Path of the Not So Righteous Warrior
by Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan
Summary: DISCONTINUED  was eventualy  ItachixNaruto. FemKyuubi.Story now up for adoption. Not canon compliant. Wrote this a while ago; it's really, really poorly written
1. Can't Run, Can't Hide

**Thanks to all of those who took the time to vote! The polls aren't going to end just yet. That'll be next chapter.**

**Please tell me what you think of the story so far.**

**Naruto, at this point in the story, is five.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. 'Nuff said.**

**Please take the time to review. I really don't mind critisism:it tells me what I'm doing wrong. If you liek the story all you need to do is click that little blue button on the bottom of the page and type a few words.**

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* * *

Naruto ran down the street, eyes scanning for a place to hide. He was being chased by some of the local school bullies, who'd been told by their parents that he was a monster. They figured that that made it okay to taunt and hit him.

Seeing the entrance to an alleyway that would eventually lead to the network of passageways that made up the poor district where he lived, and could hopefully lose his pursuers.

He turned the corner quickly, slowing down only slightly. Several of the people chasing him kept running at full speed, though, and ended up tripping. After running from the boys chasing him for about fifteen minutes, Naruto made a wrong turn and came to a dead end. He gazed up at the looming brick wall in horror, before slowly spinning around to face his now chuckling adversaries.

His first instinct was to beg them to not hurt him, to leave him alone. He knew from previous experience that that wouldn't work, though. Begging only made the beating worse.

Luckily, they didn't hurt him too bad because they got bored with his lack of response. Laughing, they began to walk off, before one of them had the brilliant idea to add insult to injury, saying, "Weakling. No wonder all our parents don't like him! He's an idiotic wimp!"

Naruto's shoulders tensed, and he clenched his fists, the knuckles turning white. Despite the fact that he was repeating the mantra of _'Ignore them. They are useless moron whose opinions are not worth your time or consideration,' _like he had ever since he was two, a red film began to slip over his vision. "Shut up!" he cried, his voice rising in pitch and volume. "What do you know of me? Nothing! You guys're the idiotic wimps!"

The leader of the group's eyes narrowed, and he replied, "What did you say, brat?" The sound came out as almost a hiss, conveying extreme annoyance and anger.

Realizing his mistake, Naruto stuttered, "N-nothing," but the damage had already been done. Without uttering a sound, the leader walked up and kicked Naruto in the stomach, cracking at the least one rib. "Watch your mouth, trash," he snarled, "Or you'll wind up in deep shit fast." With that warning and its implications hanging in the air, he turned on his heel and stalked out of the alley, his friends following close behind.

When they'd gotten far enough away to be out of earshot, Naruto started chuckling. Not only had the kid's threat been pathetic to many that he'd heard, but the five bullies were probably now hopelessly lost in the maze that was the bad part of town. Morons.

Picking himself up off of the pavement, Naruto noted that nightfall was quickly approaching. He then started running towards his usual sleeping spot, hoping that another street urchin hadn't claimed it for his or her own.

A B C

"That bakemono(goblin, monster, apparition, ghost, phantom, evil spirit)! It should pay for what it did to our children!" one of the chunin in the room grumbled. The parents of the five bullies and other 'concerned' shinobi and citizens were gathered in one of the many meeting places scattered throughout the village.

"My son, Ichirou, was badly hurt because of the trick that demon played on him and his friends!" a jounin added, forgetting to mention that the 'trick' had been to run away into a complex system of alleyways.

"But what should we do?" Another of the chunin, this one a female, asked.

"Beat some sense into it, that's what! Make sure that the monster doesn't hurt them again!" the first chunin to speak shouted. Many others cheered their agreement; eager to bring harm to the one they perceived as the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

A B C

Naruto tossed and turned in his bed, the nightmare that his life was following him even into the dream world, never giving him respite from his suffering.

Drenched in sweat, the blonde Jinchuuriki shot up into a sitting position, fully awake and hyperventilating. His eyes darted around nervously, scanning the room for signs of an enemy. Seeing no threat, he waited for the pounding of his heart to quiet down, before slipping off of the battered mattress he used as a bed.

Standing slowly, he looked around his pitiful one room apartment. The only furnishings were the ancient mattress he slept on, several crates that he used to store clothes, weapons, and scrolls in, and some more crates that he used in lieu of a table and a chair. On the table was a microwave which was way past its prime, and hardly worked anymore. He stored ramen in a few of the crates used as the table.

He rummaged through his makeshift cupboard in the dim light provided by the single, grimy window. Finally finding what he was looking for, he took out the only bowl he owned, a plastic bowl with cracks dotting the edges. He sprinted to the public bathroom for that floor, swiftly filling the bowl with water. Returning to the apartment, he emptied the ramen noodles into the water and put the bowl in the microwave.

Naruto began to get dressed while he waited for his food to cook. Seeing as how he owned only two outfits, it didn't take him any time at all to decided, and he'd already pulled the battered black T-shirt with a faded red spiral on the front over his head and put on a pair of black shorts, securing them with a makeshift belt, by the time his food was done. The cloths hung loosely on his thin frame, being a few sizes too large. The pants would've fallen down if he hadn't come up with the idea to twist his blanket into a rope and use it as a belt, thereby insuring that the pants wouldn't fall down, embarrassing him.

Picking up his chopsticks, Naruto began to slurp the ramen noisily, finishing quickly, even managing to lick the bowl clean. With a contended sigh he replaced the bowl and chopsticks in their perspective places, his belly as full as it would get anytime soon.

Humming a tune he'd picked up on the streets, Naruto slipped his worn shoes on and exited the apartment. He then began running through the streets of the bad section of Konoha, heading towards the academy. While this would be most children's first year in the academy, it was his third, seeing as how he'd entered two years before everyone else, at the age of three.

Grinning, he skidded into the classroom. The other occupants, all two years older than him, took this time to glare. He could feel their disapproval of his actions, and in many cases the feeling he got was either extreme dislike or outright hatred. He didn't particularly care, seeing as how, even though they looked at him with hate shinning n their eyes, they were indeed looking at him.

"Sorry I'm late! My alarm clock was broken!" he announced. He didn't actually own an alarm clock, but he'd heard of such fascinating devices, and knew that if they didn't work people who were dependent on them woke up late. His actual reason for being late was that he'd slept in because he hadn't gotten home till after midnight, and his body had taken extra long to recuperate.

"Sit down and be quiet, brat," his teacher snarled. Naruto shrugged and sat down in the back row, as far away from everyone else as he could manage. Hearing the teacher start to rant about political conditions 100 years ago, he decided that the lesson was useless and drifted off to sleep.

A B C

The ringing of the lunch bell drifted through Naruto's mind, interrupting his dreamless sleep and yanking him back into the Hell that was the waking world.

The blonde lifted his head slowly, looking around. The other kids were filing out of the classroom, lunches in hand. Must mean it was time for him to sit on the swing while envying the others of their good fortune.

Naruto got up and walked to the back of the line, to tired to act the idiot and draw attention to himself. He hated acting like a moron, but it was the only way to get people to look at him, and also the one time he'd shown promise several villagers had taken the time to take their rage out on him, beating into the blonde that demons such as himself should be stupid and weak, and that if they overstepped their boundaries that they should be punished accordingly. Taking this lesson to heart, Naruto was sure to always be the dobe in his class, so as not to risk such a severe beating once again.

When they got outside Naruto walked dejectedly over to his usual spot, hoping that some new kid who didn't know who or what he was would take pity on him and offer to share some food. No such luck.

Naruto, despite all appearances, was fairly observant. He needed to be, after all, in order to avoid being slain because he was unlucky enough to become the Jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi no Kitsune, although he himself was unaware of his status as such. Because he was more observant than the average five-year-old, he didn't fail to notice a group of people standing not to far away, glaring at him, killing intent rolling off their bodies in waves.

He wondered what they were doing there. It was normal for a few to be standing nearby, trying to kill him with their eyes alone, but such a large gathering was uncommon. The last time he'd seen such a thing, the next day his house had been completely trashed beyond reason, and he'd been beaten within an inch of his life. If it hadn't been for the timely interference of several ANBU, he would've indeed died that day.

When lunch ended they had their lessons in tai and ninjutsu. Naruto made sure to pay extra attention during this, knowing that even such basic skills would come in handy. Unluckily for him, his teacher hated him and refused to correct the mistakes Naruto was making, instead sneering at the blonde's failure. Naruto just doubled his efforts, determined to wipe that smug grin off his sensei's face.

He failed miserably. Every time he tried to summon chakra, it would suddenly flare out of control, ruining whatever he was attempting to do. In taijutsu, although he was doing well for a five year old who'd only ever been trained by himself, he was no match for the seven and eight year old who came from prestigious clans, the like of which made sure to drill such basics as taijutsu into the heads of their children. The shuriken and kunai he used in weapon training were useless, having been used so much that they broke or were the products of beginner blacksmiths, and were therefore weighted unevenly. He only managed to hit the target twice, even though he had ten shuriken and ten kunai to practice with.

He adverted his gaze from his sensei's triumphant gaze. This was not because he was ashamed, though. It was so that the chunin wouldn't see the look of absolute loathing that marred his young features, highlighting the skull evident through his skin, having no baby fat to soften the lines, and turning his scrawny, street brat face into something feral and slightly demonic. He'd learned a long time ago that the only emotion he could show in public without bringing down severe punishment on his head was happiness. So, even though he'd never felt genuinely happy in his short life, he grinned and laughed all the time, so as not to become nothing more than an empty shell. Because, the way he saw it, even make joy was better than no joy at all. Right?

**A B C**

Because of the way the villagers had been acting that day, Naruto decided against going to his apartment for the night. Chances were he wouldn't even return for a week, not even to grab his pitiful supply of ramen or his one extra outfit and his poor excuse for pajamas. They'd probably all been destroyed by now, anyway.

He trekked out to one of his many hide outs, hoping that the remoteness of the place would be enough to protect him from the villagers' wrath.

Arriving at the glade hidden deep within the woods, he scavenged round for dinner. He managed to come up with some nuts and mushrooms. Not exactly a feast fit for a king, but it would suffice. After finishing his meal Naruto curled up in the cavity underneath the roots of an ancient oak tree and promptly fell asleep.

A B C

"Damn it, where'd the brat go?" one chunin shouted angrily. They'd lost the brat yesterday after he'd left the Academy, and he'd never returned to his home.

The gathered civilians, genin, chunin, jounin, and one or two ANBU argued for a bit, before the arrival of another ANBU interrupted them.

"I followed the Kyuubi no gaki. He's taken up residence in a forest glade, apparently having sensed our intention to harm him." At this point he glared at the others, annoyed that they'd let their plans be figured out so easily by a child of a mere five years. He continued in a monotone. "He's still asleep at the moment, but even if he wakes we shouldn't have any trouble with him. Our only concern is if others who are against us punishing this demon for what he did find out about our plan."

The others nodded, and soon it was decided that they'd head out to the glade as soon as possible, so that the demon brat wouldn't forget his transgressions.

A B C

Naruto's eyes shot open as he bumped his head against a tree root. Hard. He'd been having another nightmare, and was actually quite lucky that he'd only now been woken up.

Crawling towards the entrance to his little den slowly, Naruto peered around outside, looking for signs of an enemy's presence. He'd learned that caution was always a good course of action, especially with the villagers planning something. Seeing nothing, he decided to wait for a few minutes. If nothing revealed itself in that time, he'd assume the surrounding area to be safe, and exit his hiding place.

His course of action decided upon, Naruto reached into one of the smaller cavities among the roots, and pulled out a small store of food he'd collected the previous day, anticipating the necessity to wait in his den for who knows how long.

He ate as slow as he could, but the food was still all gone within five minutes. Seeing nothing, he began to shift towards the entrance, until he heard a noise. He froze in place, straining his ears to pick up even the slightest of sounds. Filtering out the forest sounds around him, he could hear what distinctly sounded like human voices. From the pitch and volume of the voices, they were searching for something. He was willing to bet that month's allowance from the Hokage that their target was him.

He wasn't disappointed. Naruto swiftly retreated into the shadows when two genin blundered into the clearing. Luckily, they seemed to have no clue he was there, and instead were worrying that they'd lost track of the chunin they were told to keep up with.

Deciding that the clearing would be a good place to rest, they sat down. One actually was leaning against the very tree Naruto was hiding under. Ah, the irony of life.

After about thirty minutes had passed of them doing nothing but complaining about their temporary teammate's absence, when they'd been the ones to lose track of her, the chunin finally walked into the clearing. Naruto almost had a heart attack when he saw that she was an Inuzuka. The only thought that crossed his mind was, _'Shit!'_

"There you two are! How stupid could you be? Because the two of you crossed a river, even Mao had trouble finding you!" Naruto then noticed her black and brown dog. The canine was sniffing the ground, and was drawing closer to the tree. _'Did it notice me?' _he thought, trying to not panic, knowing that the dog would be able to pick up on the difference between his scent and the surrounding scents a lot easier then.

"Sorry Manami-san," one said, hanging his head in shame. "We won't do it again."

"You better not! Geeze, I can't believe bakas like you exist! If you two are ever made chunin, which I find unlikely, I sure as hell won't want to be on your team!" she complained.

The other boy, this one a little taller and older looking than the one that had apologized to the girl, suddenly shouted, "Shut your fat mouth! We wouldn't want to be on your team anyways you fat bitch!"

"Hiroto! Don't!" his friend warned, alarmed that he'd piss off the bitchy Inuzuka.

"What did you say, you brat?" she growled, clenching her fist. Before she could pound some sense into the boy that dared insult her, Mao called out, "Manami! The boy's here!"

Naruto wasn't at all surprised that he could understand the dog's speech. He'd been able to comprehend what all animals were saying ever since he was a little kid, although he had trouble with non-mammals and domesticated animals, and it was easiest for him to talk to and understand foxes.

"What did she say, Manami-san?" the first boy asked, wary of getting on her bad side.

"The boy! He's under that tree!" she exclaimed.

Hiroto, the one who'd been leaning against said tree, leaped up and reached into the root system. Naruto shrank away from the genin. He wasn't able to get far away enough, though, and Hiroto found him. He then grabbed Naruto's hair and yanked the blonde boy out of his haven, causing the Jinchuuriki to whimper as his hair was pulled out by the roots.

"Hiroto, go get the others!" Manami ordered, grabbing onto Naruto roughly.

"Why me? I got the damn demon fox out from his little den!"

"Because I'm your superior, and I don't like it when my subordinates are rude. Now go!" Grumbling, Hiroto relinquished his hold on the child and ran off to find someone else involved in the manhunt.

A few minutes later, Hiroto returned with the ANBU from earlier, several jounin and chunin, and a handful of genin and civilians following behind him. "There he is! The demon brat!" Hiroto exclaimed pointed at the now crying Naruto.

"Good job you three," the ANBU said. "What are your names?"

"Inuzuka Manami!" the girl exclaimed. "I was the one who found it!"

"Sato Hachirou!" the quietest of the three announced.

"I'm Inoue Hiroto!" the louder boy announced. "I got the demon out of its den!"

"Very well. All three of you shall be rewarded appropriately," the ANBU droned. He signaled to the others gathered. By now more villagers and shinobi had shown up, and Naruto knew that this was to be no simple beating. He cried out in pain as fist after fist hit him, before falling into shock.

* * *

**Well, there you have it! Chapter 1.**

**Here's the results of the poll so far:**

**Naruto goes w/ Itachi:4**

**Pairng Votes:**

**Itachi-1**

**Sasuke-1**

**FemKyuubi-1**

**Not Yaoi-1**

**Shukaku and Sakura, if when the two of you reviewed you meant to say you wanted the pairing to be Itanaru, please clarify that. For now I'm just assuming that you two voted for Naruto to go w/ Itachi.**

**For all of you who don't like yaoi, and for all of you who do, I'm going to be writing a branch off of this that isn't yaoi. At this point it looks like the non-yaoi paring will be NaruKyuu, and the yaoi pairing is tied between Itachi and Sasuke.**

**If you have a problem with the pairing, please vote so that it will be changed.**


	2. Guardian? A Visit to the Clan!

**Hey! Here's the new chapter.**

**To all of those that don't think I'm a crappy author: please review! It makes me magically type twice as fast! Critisism welome. No flaming the pairing. All flames will be fed to Lee and Gai to fuel their Flames of Youth (And then I will hunt down the flamers and tell said duo that they lack Flames of Youth)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, so all of you bored lawyers out there with nothing better to do than harras fanfic writters can go bug someone else.**

**Please read the author's note at the bottom.**

* * *

Pain. That was all he could feel. The sharp feeling of a blade or fist meeting skin, before fading into a dull ache, joining its fellows.

He could hear voices, filtering in through the haze of red. He felt as if he was in a cocoon. He felt the pain, he heard their insults, and yet he did not. It was almost like a dream. Maybe if he waited long enough he'd wake up, and find this nightmare to be nothing more than a phantasm.

Another voice penetrated the haze. This one was different. It, like the others, was furious and filled with hate, but the hatred was not directed towards him. No, instead, it was directed towards the other voices, the ones that cut him physically, mentally, and emotionally.

That fact alone convinced him that this whole occurrence was nothing more than a bad nightmare. After all, who would stand up for the demon brat? The scourge of the village and the spawn of Satan to boot, if you listened to what the villagers said.

The broken and battered boy felt the dark, cool void that had been lurking on the edge of his consciousness ever since the beginning of this strange dream began draw closer, attempting to swallow him up. He drifted into the nothingness, and felt no more.

As his spirit flickered for what he sincerely believe to be the last time, he could've sworn that a faint, ghostly voice shouted in a hushed whisper, 'Kid!' But he was probably imagining things.

* * *

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Itachi had always been annoyed by the constant beeping of the life support system. Now he felt like ripping in from where ever it was bolted and tossing it out the window.

He'd been standing there for the last couple of hours waiting for the kid he'd saved from the idiotic villagers to wake up. Itachi briefly amused himself by thinking of the punishments those that had been caught were going through. After all, the law protecting Naruto, the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, was the strictest and most serious of them all. And for a good reason. Just look at what had happened with Gaara and so many more before him.

Itachi tensed when the boy shifted in his sleep. Naruto groaned a bit, obviously in pain.

The blonde groggily began to open his eyes, only to squeeze them shut once more when a blinding white light filled his view. _'What? Where am I?'_ he wondered.

Itachi tensed when the boy's eyelids fluttered. Straining his ears, it sounded like he was trying to mumble something. He could not hear what the blonde was saying, but Naruto was obviously confused about something.

Walking forward, he sat down in the chair next to the boy's bed. "Hey, brat, you up?" he asked.

The blonde's eyes shot open as he yanked his head around to look at Itachi. He paled visibly, shrinking away from the chunin. He obviously thought that the raven haired man was going to kill him.

Seeing the boy's fear, Itachi said, "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. Hokage-sama assigned me to be your bodyguard in light of recent events."

Naruto was clearly still wary though. "How do I know I can trust you?" he asked.

"Because if I wished you harm then I wouldn't have saved you, and Hokage-sama wouldn't have assigned me to your care," Itachi replied in the same monotone as before.

Naruto's eyes brightened and his posture shifted from cautious and frightened to slightly wary and hopeful. "Really? It was you that was kind to me?"

Inclining his head slightly, Itachi said, "Yes."

Naruto's face brightened up and a grin almost split his face in half. "Thanks mister!" he shouted, shooting forward and hugging Itachi around the knees. Wondering how the hell the boy was able to move so soon and so fast, Itachi tried to pry the hyperactive ball of sunshine from around his legs, failing miserably.

After Itachi had been trying to get Naruto to let go of his legs for about a minute, the Hokage walked in. "I see that you've met your new bodyguard, Naruto-kun" he said. "If you would be so kind as to release him I'll tell you about your new living arrangements."

His face a picture of curiosity, Naruto let go of Itachi and turned to the Hokage. Itachi wondered what he was talking about. Nobody had said anything about new living arrangements for the blonde when he'd been given the mission.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_"Itachi-san, please come here," the Hokage said. "I have a solo mission for you."_

_Ignoring the grumblings of his fellow chunin against the unfairness of him, instead of them, getting a solo mission, Itachi walked up to the Hokage's desk. _

_"What is it Hokage-sama?" he asked uninterestedly._

_"This way.__ I'll tell you about the mission in my office," the Hokage replied. As Itachi walked out he heard his teammates complaining quite a bit, although they quieted down when one of the mission people told them that they wouldn't want the mission anyways. He was out of earshot before they got to what the mission was specifically._

_"It has been brought to my attention, Itachi-san, that you were the one that stopped the attack on Naruto-kun?" the Hokage asked._

_Wondering if this had something to do with his new mission, Itachi replied, "Hai, Hokage-sama."_

_Nodding, the Hokage said, "In light of recent events it has been decided that the threat against Naruto is much higher than had been previously thought. You are being assigned as his personal __bodyguard. There will also be a squad of ANBU that'll watch over him from time to time, but it'll be your job to guard him around the clock."_

_His face impassive, Itachi asked, "When do I start?"_

_Taking out some papers, the Sarutobi said, "As soon as possible would be preferred. He's staying at the general shinobi hospital right now."_

_Bowing, Itachi jumped out the window and headed towards the hospital. He didn't see why the people who had been handing out missions had believed that this job would be particularly undesirable. It sounded like it would be blatantly easy, in fact, unless some crazed ANBU or jounin, or an entire mob of chunin, decided to try and kill the boy again. Unless, of course, they believed that the job was undesirable because it was easy._

"In order to make the job of guarding Naruto-kun easier, Itachi-san, the two of you will be living together until it is decided that the threat against Naruto-kun has abated," the Hokage said, looking slightly amused.

Naruto paused for a second, apparently trying to figure out whether or not he liked this new turn of events, before screaming, "Yatta!" and hugging Itachi again. He'd come to the conclusion that it would be really cool to have a roommate.

Itachi, meanwhile, could care less. Although he did hope that the blonde would stop hugging him at the slightest thing, and he was beginning to see how having to guard Naruto 24/7 might get on one's nerves, he was a shinobi and shinobi never complain about their missions or show emotion.

Once again trying to remove Naruto from his death grip on Itachi's legs, the raven haired shinobi asked, "Hokage-sama, what are you going to do about the reactions of the Uchiha clan?"

The head Sarutobi blew out a poof of smoke and replied, "I have already spoken with your parents on this issue. It seems that not only they but the vast majority of the clan don't want Naruto-kun anywhere nearby them, so the two of you will be moved to an apartment. Here is the address and the keys."

Managing to get Naruto to let go of him, Itachi took the piece of paper and the key from the Hokage. "I will take Naruto to get his things," he said.

"No need! I don't have anything I wanna keep!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

Sighing, Sarutobi Hogosha **(AN: that's not his real name, just what I've decided to call him since I'm tired of calling him 'the Hokage') **said, "Alright, then Itachi-san will take you to your new apartment. Do you have anything you need to retrieve?"

"No, Hokage-sama," Itachi replied. He could care less about the few items that decorated his room at home.

"Okay. You two are dismissed," he said. Itachi bowed.

Deciding that walking to the apartment would take to long, Itachi picked up Naruto and, ignoring the blonde's protests, settled him on Itachi's back. "Stop squirming. We'll be able to go faster this way," Itachi told Naruto. The boy quieted down as Itachi jumped out the window and started running across the rooftops, heading towards the apartment.

Naruto gazed around as they ran. His new home was in a better neighborhood than his last, but it was still in the poor sector. The council hadn't provided much money for the mission to protect Naruto, which was why it had been given to a chunin.

Graffiti had been scrawled on many of the walls, and trash littered the streets, but the apartments generally weren't in too bad a state of repair, and there were only one or two people slumped over on the side of the street. The building that Itachi stopped in front of, which Naruto assumed was theirs, was an apartment complex which, for this area, was in fairly good condition. Itachi set him down and walked up to the ninth floor, Naruto following close behind him. They entered the room farthest down the hall from the stairs.

Naruto looked about his new home, clearly amazed. The main room was a cross between a kitchen and a living room. The third closest to the door was tiled. There was a small refrigerator, an oven, several cabinets, a sink, a folding table, and two folding chairs. In the living room section was a faded rug, a couch, another small table, and a single chair. There was a door that opened into the bedroom in the living room. From what Naruto had seen he concluded that, like his previous home, the bathrooms here were communal, there being a shared bathroom for each floor instead of a personal bathroom for each apartment.

"You can sleep on the couch," Itachi said, walking into the apartment. Naruto grinned and ran over to his new bed before jumping onto the cushions. "I'm going to bed now."

Opening the door to the adjoining bedroom, Itachi was briefly annoyed at the living conditions. He'd slept in hotels when on missions before, but that had been for a week at the most and he would be here for months, if not years. Pushing aside his exasperation Itachi took an inventory of all the things located in the room before climbing into bed, intending to go to sleep.

No such luck. Just as he was getting comfortable a certain hyper active bundle of raw energy barreled into the room and jumped on the bed, landing square in the middle of Itachi's chest. Seeing that Itachi was about to reprimand him, Naruto whined, "'Achi-chan!!! I can't sleep!"

"And why not?" Itachi asked, beginning to get seriously annoyed.

Naruto formed his lips into a pout and crossed his arms. "I haven't had anything to eat all day!!! I want ramen!" Normally he wouldn't complain about the lack of food, but what was the point of having a super cool bodyguard if you ended up starving to death?

"Well, why don't you get yourself some ramen?" Itachi asked, his annoyance growing. He knew that the kid was fully capable of taking care of himself, as evidenced by the fact that he'd been living alone for quite some time.

"Cuz, baka, there ain't any!!! 'Achi-bastard didn't get ramen!!!" Naruto scolded.

Sighing Itachi push Naruto off of his stomach and onto the floor. "If it'll make you go to sleep I'll get you some ramen," he said, annoyance leaking into his tone.

"YATTA!!!" Naruto shouted, excited at the thought of his guard buying ramen for him.

Turning to Naruto, Itachi asked, "Can I trust you to stay here and not break anything?"

Nodding, Naruto said, "Duh!"

Mentally gripping that he didn't have a reason to ignore the brat and go back to bed, Itachi calmly exited the apartment and started running towards the nearest store that would sell ramen. Hogosha had provided a map pointing out the local places, knowing that Itachi lived in the really rich old clan section of town and therefore wouldn't know anything about the locations of places like grocery stores.

Arriving at his destination Itachi was hit by a sudden jolt of Uchiha pride and decided that it would be degrading to be seen in this place. So he did what any over prideful ninja would do: he transformed himself. Turning into a brown haired brown eyed chunin he entered the store nonchalantly and made his purchase. Not knowing what Naruto would want he brought four miso, four pork, and just for the heck of it one oriental and one chili. He knew that what he'd brought wouldn't last to long, but until he knew what Naruto liked he didn't want to give the over reactive blonde any reason to throw a temper tantrum. He valued his eardrums, and had no wish for them to be shattered when Naruto started yelling.

He ran back to the apartment and opened the door, setting the bag of ramen down on the counter. "I got your ramen," he said, wanting to go back to sleep. "You can make it yourself."

"'K 'Achi-chan!" Naruto shouted, running into the kitchen and tackling Itachi around the legs.

"Don't call me 'Achi-chan," Itachi ordered, prying the blonde off of him. It annoyed him how much he was annoyed by the boy. Only weaklings feel such petty things as annoyance, let alone emotion, and Itachi was no weakling. Also being annoyed by Naruto meant that he hadn't succeeded in demolishing his emotions just yet, and had therefore failed. And Uchihas do not except failure.

Naruto let go of Itachi's legs and went over to the grocery bag, looking through it. "What should I call you then?" he asked.

"Itachi-san is fine," the Uchiha answered. Ignoring the blonde's further words he went to his room, slamming the door behind him. Finally free of the annoyance that was Uzumaki Naruto he collapsed on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

(six months later) 

"Where're we goin'?" Naruto asked, bored. He and Itachi were currently walking somewhere, and for some reason or another weren't taking the normal route, instead opting to walk through the streets on ground level. By now it was known throughout the village that Uchiha Itachi had been so unlucky to be saddled with the job of guarding the boy. They also new that Itachi took his job seriously, rather than letting the more minor transgressions, such as insults and the occasional flying stone, slide like most would do.

"The Uchiha compound," Itachi replied, not caring to elaborate. Naruto knew him well enough by now to detect the faint change of tone in his voice, signaling that he was tense about something.

"Why are we going there?" Naruto asked, trying to get further information. He knew that if you asked a nonspecific question or a senseless and useless question Itachi would just ignore you, and even if you ask a question with a specific answer he'd give you the minimal amount of details required.

"I have a clan meeting to attend," was the monotonous reply.

"What's it about?"

No answer. Apparently either it was about several things, Itachi didn't know, or he didn't feel like sharing the information with Naruto.

His brief source of amusement expired, Naruto looked around for something else to do, before discovering that apparently he could understand alley cats just as well as he understood wild animals. This discovery in mind he struck up a conversation with a local tabby cat.

She was intrigued by this boy that looked human and acted human but smelled and spoke like a fox. She was fairly certain that he wasn't a fox spirit in disguise, on account of the fact that he was actually speaking to her, instead of plotting something devious. She'd met several fox spirits, many of them having come to see the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, their Crown Princess, and none of them had been this open or childish.

His companion was also interesting. He was obviously of that dreaded clan the Uchihas, but he didn't smell quite like them. Most of the Uchihas that were older than kitten-hood were power hungry, and gave off a constant aura of pride and coldness. You could tell by looking at them that they'd betray you in a heartbeat, stooping to the lowest of lows to get what they wanted. One that was not tainted was rare. According to the other cats there'd only been one other that didn't follow the typical Uchiha path, and he'd died even before the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked. To top the fact that he didn't smell as power hungry as the rest of his clan, her new friend's mysterious companion smelled really tasty, quite unlike most humans, although she suspected that it wouldn't be a very good idea to try and eat him.

Naruto really liked his life recently. Yah, sure, the villagers were still cruel to him, and the teachers still went out of their way to screw up his education, but now that he actually had a bodyguard that neither hated him nor was too lazy to come to his defense he wasn't attacked at all anymore, and the insults were reduced by half. He was also experiencing a rise in the quality of his living conditions. The couch he slept on now was far more comfortable than his old mattress, and he had more and better food. He had also sort of made two new friends, if you could count a bored alley cat and the emotional equivalent of a brick wall that was paid to stay near him as friends.

His new friend the cat was interesting, too. She'd just recently had a litter of kittens, and had been hunting for some food for herself so that she could feed them when she met Naruto. Her name roughly translated into Crimson Mare. She apparently came from the Horse Tribe of cats. Cat Tribes were loose structures, and they were only distinguished from each other based on their traditions. Not all cats were in Tribes, too. The Horse Tribe of cats always gave birth in stables, and preferred to reside in said stables. The females' names always had Mare somewhere in then, while the males' names always included Stallion.

She tensed suddenly as they approached the Uchiha clan district. The raven haired guard of her new friend was nice enough, but she wasn't willing to go anywhere near the rest of the lot. Itachi agreed with her, wishing he could skip out on the meeting too. He also didn't wish to leave the cat behind. Her constant chattering was almost as annoying as Naruto's, but she gave the blonde fox boy someone other than Itachi to bug. Itachi didn't even bother to dwell on why he could understand animals far better than the average human, having accepted it a long time ago as just one of those things.

Seeing that his friend wasn't going to accompany them, Naruto bid her farewell and offered her a place at his house, kittens included. Before Itachi could protest she agreed and Naruto gave her the address and told her how to get in.

"Naruto," Itachi said, "You can't invite every stray you find into the house. It'll end up overrun."

Naruto looked at Itachi, his eyes wide and pleading and his bottom lip stuck out slightly. "Please Achi-chan! I really want a friend and Crimson is really nice! I know she won't make a mess, and I won't invite any other strays over to live there! I promise!" he whined, puppy dog look turned on full blast.

Itachi could see the sense in Naruto's argument, despite how it was delivered. The Hokage had told him, after all, to try to help Naruto make one or two friends. He was fairly certain that a cat wasn't what the Hokage had in mind, but it was Naruto's first friend. His decision to let the cat stay had absolutely nothing to do with the cute begging look on Naruto's face. Nothing to do with it whatsoever.

"Fine, the cat can stay, but if she or her kittens make a mess you get to clean it."

Naruto's face was nearly split in half by a grin. There was actually some basis behind this grin, which was abnormal for him, but he was over exaggerating it quite a bit. He felt more like giving Itachi a small smile and a sincere thank you, rather than the "Yatta!" he shouted.

"Quiet down. We're entering the compound now," Itachi told Naruto.

Naruto for once did as he was told, sensing the sudden rise in killer intent. Apparently the Uchiha clan had no problem with ignoring the fact that Naruto was escorted by their prodigy, and were actually glaring more than was normal in the village without Itachi there. He figured that it had something to do with the fact that he was taking up Itachi's time, also managing to ensure that he didn't get any higher ranked missions, being confined to missions within the village.

Itachi was just ignoring the glares. The opinions of idiots such as these mattered not to him. If they couldn't see past their own noses enough to realize that the boy in front of them was not a demon, and that any even remotely demonic acts he preformed were all their faults because they turned him into that, then they might as well be dead. Shinobi who couldn't look underneath the underneath, or at the least put their own feelings at bay in favor of the greater good, were of no use to their village or people.

Seeing the raven's indifference to the stares Naruto relaxed a bit, but made a mental note to later on apologize to Itachi for reflecting badly on his reputation. He didn't want his only human friend to get mad at him, after all.

They soon arrived at the main household of the Uchiha clan. Itachi slid open the screen door leading to the kitchen. Mikoto was standing there, preparing lunch.

"Hello, Itachi. It seems that you decided to show up for this meeting after all," she said briskly, her tone cold. Then she saw Naruto, and instead of cold dislike her eyes shone with hatred. "What is _he_ doing here?" she asked, her tone now conveying anger on the point of exploding.

It was no secret that the Uchihas as a whole tended to have bad tempers, angering easily. This was carefully masked by a visage of cold indifference. Most people took them at face value, not realizing how quite a few of them could go from perfectly calm to raging in a matter of seconds. Itachi was one of those few.

His fist clenched, he replied to his mother through gritted teeth. "In case you forgot, Mikoto, I have a mission to protect Naruto, which requires me to stay by his side as much as possible. I am aware that I cannot take him into the meeting room with me, so I thought that it would be fine if I left him here for the duration of the meeting. Unless of course you have so little honor that you'd attack a defenseless child, or allow him to be attacked?"

She was angered in return. "That demon is hardly defenseless!" she spat. "It should be killed!"

Naruto didn't even pay any attention at all to the raging Uchihas. He was used to comments like that, and had lived with them all his life. He briefly wondered if she'd been among the ones to assist in his beating six months ago. He'd been fairly certain that there was at the least one Uchiha there. Even if she hadn't, she wasn't going to get off free for insulting his friend. The gears within his mind were already turning, coming up with some ingenious prank or another that he could pull off while Itachi was preoccupied and he was actually in the compound. This was going to be fun…

Before the tension between Itachi and his mom could grow Sasuke barreled into the room, interrupting Naruto's devious line of thinking. "Aniki!" Sasuke shouted. "You're back!"

He was confused as to why his older brother had been gone so long. He'd been away on missions before, but they never lasted more than a month. And now he came back suddenly with a weird blonde kid that Sasuke had never seen before in his life in tow. Wait, who was that blonde kid anyways?

"Hello," Sasuke said, making it clear he was addressing Naruto. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. What's yours?"

Naruto had noticed that all traces of hatred had disappeared from both Mikoto and Itachi when Sasuke entered, and had drawn the conclusion that this was Itachi's little brother. His conclusion was proven when Sasuke called Itachi his older brother. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" he announced.

"I haven't ever seen you before. Are you in the Academy?" Sasuke asked.

"Yah," Naruto said, nodding. "But I'm not with kids my age. I entered two years early, so I'm in my third year."

Mikoto wasn't surprised by the information. She'd been among the ones protesting that the Kyuubi no gaki shouldn't even be allowed into the Academy at all, let alone two years early. Hogosha's excuse, which had somehow convinced the council, was that if Naruto was required to go to a certain place everyday it would be easier to keep an eye on him. He completely ignored the fact that Naruto could always skip school, and did so often. (At the least that's what he did until Itachi was assigned as his bodyguard. Itachi had several very strict rules in place. Among them was a mandatory 'go to school' rule.)

Sasuke, however, was shocked at the news. He'd known that it was possible to graduate early, but he'd never heard of anyone ever entering the Academy even one year before the age of five, let alone two years. "How'd you manage that?" he asked.

Naruto just shrugged. "I guess Hokage-jiji didn't want me on the streets, so he allowed me to enter the Academy early."

Sasuke just blinked. Naruto was a street kid? Then how did he get into the Academy? The only kids who went to the Academy were either from prestigious ninja clans or were from families well off enough to afford paying for the child's education, seeing as how training someone to be a shinobi costs much more than training them to be a librarian or something of the sort. Rarely a poor kid would be entered, and it was unheard of for anyone from the streets to become a shinobi. Maybe that was why his mother didn't seem to like Naruto so much.

"Why were you with aniki?" Sasuke asked, still not having noticed that his older brother had disappeared at the start of their conversation.

"Hokage-jiji told him to protect me because nobody seems to like me and several people have tried to kill me. I don't know why they don't like me, though. I'm just a street brat," Naruto explained. Sasuke was also confused. Why try to kill a street brat? Maybe he had connections to some Mafia boss or another. That would explain it.

His mind settled on an answer to the puzzling mystery that was Naruto, Sasuke noticed Itachi's absence. "Where'd aniki go?" he asked. Naruto looked around too, also having missed it when his constant companion slipped away.

"He went to the meeting when you two started talking," Mikoto said. "Here, have some lunch."

She set the plates down on the traditional Japanese table. Sasuke kneeled down on the mats in front of his place, waiting for his mother and guest to join him. Mikoto and Naruto both sat down. With a quite 'Itadakimasu,' Sasuke and Mikoto began eating. They looked up when they say that Naruto hadn't even picked up his chopsticks.

Seeing that Mikoto and Sasuke had noticed his lack of appetite, Naruto hastened to explain. "Gomen, but I'm not hungry at all. I don't think that I can eat anything right now. The food looks delicious, though," he said, fox grinning. Naturally he was fibbing. He was currently starving, but he didn't trust Mikoto to not poison him. The second thing he'd learned as a Jinchuuriki, right after to not show how much he hated the villagers and shinobi of Konoha, was to never eat food that he hadn't made himself or trusted where it came from, and when he made it himself to always triple check the ingredients. He'd gotten poisoned a few to many times for it to just have been accidental.

"That's alright," Mikoto said, smiling. "I'll just make some for you to take home with you, so that you can eat it later." She actually has poisoned the food, but not majorly. She knew that if Naruto got poisoned after she feed him that Itachi would suspect her, and so had slipped an herb into his meal which would only serve to make him slightly sick, giving him a bad stomach and head ache. Anymore was too dangerous the way she saw it.

"Arigatou," Naruto said. He was planning on dumping the food when he got home, but if he declined the offer then she might get mad.

He watched Sasuke and Mikoto as they finished eating, and briefly wondered when Itachi would get back. The atmosphere here was hostile, and Naruto was bored. In addition, for some reason or another, the only animals here were the occasional horse, which moved through quickly and only stopped to drop things off. The lack of wildlife, even insects, was much more unnerving than the way the Uchihas acted.

* * *

**There you go! The next chapter to Path of the Not So Righteous Warrior**

**This version of the story is going to be ItaNaru. If you want me to write a NarutoxFemKyuubi version of this please say so this chapter. Otherwise my lazy self will take over and either A) it'll never be posted in the first place or B) it will be posted but almost never updated**

**Can anyone guess yet what the Uchiha clan's big secret is? I want to know whether I'm being to obvious or not. If I give the secret away before it's revealed it'll ruin the surprise, but I don't want it to come out of the blue suddenly.**

**Translations:**

**Hogosha-Japanese for protector**

**Kyuubi no gaki-nine tailed brat**

**Itadakimasu-something said in Japan before eating**

**Please review! Just click that little blue button and type a couple of words and you'lll be done.**


	3. Secrets Abound, Lies Surround

**Here's the fifth chapter of Path of the Not So Righteous Warrior!**

**Disclaimer: don't own Naruto (although me and a few of my friends are planning on buying the copyright from Kishimoto. I'm serious. Several of us even speak and/ or write Japanese)**

**Warning: This is where the story begins to become ItaNaru. If you're not a yaoi fan dont fret. The NaruFemkyuubi story will be posted. Eventually.**

**Please review! I will sic my demon cat, Tiger, on all flamers so you have been warned!**

**Oh, btw, anything that occurs/is revealed after chapter 366 of the manga can and will be ignored!**

* * *

Itachi strode down the cave like hallway, clearly irritated. The clan meeting had just ended, and he needed some time to think. 

He was prevented from going any farther when an oddly shaped shadow stepped into the light, revealing itself to be his supposedly best friend Shisui.

"What do you want?" Itachi snarled.

"Can't I say hello to my cousin and closest friend?" Shisui asked, pretending to look offended. Despite the fact that Itachi's only response was a feral growl, he continued. "Anyways, what do you think of the demon brat? I know it must be frustrating having to babysit him rather than using your time to work on missions."

Itachi glared at his supposed friend. In reality he felt nothing towards the guy, although it was an improvement over the hatred he felt towards the rest of the clan, excluding Sasuke. "Naruto is not the fox. It's ludicrous to think such a thing. Naruto is in fact so kind natured that the only reason he might ever wish any of us harm is if we treat him in such a manner that it would make a pacifist want to torture us to death," Itachi replied, venom tainting his tone.

Shisui scowled. "Baka, can't you see that he's just acting?"

"I have been guarding him for six months Shisui, and although his happiness is an act he does not feel the desire to kill anyone in this village, and is instead afraid of the villagers and shinobi because they all hate him for a reason that he doesn't know," Itachi hissed, getting fed up with his cousin.

Shisui's scowl only grew. "Well, I guess it's true what they say," he snarled.

"And what is that?" Itachi asked, his fists clenching.

Before Shisui could say anything else Fugaku interrupted. "Don't you have two have somewhere to be?" he asked.

Both shinobi's eyes widened. Shisui had an important meeting with his team really soon, and Itachi didn't want to leave Naruto alone in the midst of the Uchiha clan for too long. Itachi bowed to his father, apologizing. He then straightened and walked away. Shisui glared at his back before walking towards another exit from the labyrinth of underground passageways.

Fugaku looked at the two shinobi who appeared to the world as the best of friends, his eyes shinning with some dark emotion when they landed on his eldest son.

* * *

Naruto was sitting on the steps on the main Uchiha clan compound waiting for Itachi. The Uchiha's that passed him by looked even more determined to kill him with just their eyes than the average villagers and shinobi. From what he'd heard of the sharingan they just might be able to succeed, too. 

His stomach growled, empty. He hadn't had anything to eat since five that morning, and it was already three or so in the afternoon. He didn't dare eat anything that Mikoto had offered him, and there were no animals around to offer to share their meals with him.

He was extremely disconcerted by the Uchiha clan. No matter where you went, especially in a place like Konoha, there was always wild life, strays, and many domesticated animals. The only signs of animate life other than humans that he'd seen or heard so far, though, were two horses that not only were dumber than a sack of bricks, which was strange seeing as how horses were normally extremely intelligent and made for good conversation, but seemed scared out of their minds. He'd also seen one or two hostile, also non too bright, dogs. They made the horses look smart, and were also unusually dumb for their species.

Looking around, Naruto saw the figure of his guardian rounding the corner and had to resist the urge to shout for joy and tackle the raven haired Uchiha. Not only would Itachi not appreciate it, but the other Uchiha's would have negative reactions to the whole thing. So he just stood up and ran towards Itachi, falling into step next to him.

The two walked in silence until they got out of range of the lack of life zone surrounding the clan compound. Once the oppressive aura of silence and impeding doom had dissipated, Naruto began chatting animatedly, asking Itachi about the clan meeting.

"Nothing of interest was spoken about. I normally wouldn't have gone, except attendance was mandatory. Don't you have more important things to be worrying about, though? Such as your upcoming test?" Itachi asked, purposefully changing the subject. He didn't want Naruto prying any farther into the clan business.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "I'm going to ace that test! Especially since you helped me, Achi-chan!" he exclaimed. In the past six months Itachi and managed to drill the basics of reading, math, and hand to hand fighting into Naruto's head. He had also elaborated on the concept of chakra and chakra control, and had helped Naruto with strategy and the idea of applying past situations to current times.

Itachi's lips twitched at the very edges. For most people that would be a sign of faint amusement, but for Itachi it was as good as a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Naruto's eyes widened, having caught the slight half smile.

"Ah! It's a sign of the apocalypse! Achi-chan just smiled!" Naruto exclaimed in mock panic, clutching his head.

Itachi shook his head at this, having come to except the fact that the blonde was able to get a reaction out of him more than anybody else. It was nice to have someone to loosen up around, after all.

"Hn, I doubt it. You've been slacking recently, and you're younger than everybody else," Itachi said. In actuality Naruto had been training five times as hard as was usual for someone his grade level, which was by far more difficult than the training regime of someone his age. Naruto was at an unfair disadvantage, though, because he was two years younger than everyone else and the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"Just you wait!" Naruto announced, a determined look on his face. "I'll train twice as hard as before and wipe that smug look off your and everybody else's faces! I'll be the very best!"

Itachi watched Naruto's display with a hint of amusement shining in his eyes. The boy was really something else. "Come on, let's go get you some food," he said. He, too, was getting hungry, but he wasn't going to admit it anytime soon.

Naruto nodded vigorously, expecting to return to the apartment. He was confused though when Itachi began walking in the other way. "Achi-chan where're we going?" he asked.

"I happen to know the owners of a ramen shop in the area. They happen to actually like you," Itachi replied. He'd heard the old man and his daughter stand up for Naruto when some villagers had been bad mouthing him, even though it was sure to reflect badly on their reputation. The fact that they ran a ramen shop was great for Itachi, since Naruto was so obsessed with the treat.

"Really?" Naruto asked. His luck just kept getting better and better! First he got a new house and a new friend, and now today he got another new friend and maybe a few more and he learned that an owner of a ramen shop actually liked him! He was sure now that there must be some rebel god or goddess up there that had decided to break off from the normal pattern of hating Naruto and was actually helping him.

Naruto started running, wanting to get to the ramen shop as soon as possible in order to fill up his empty stomach. Itachi had to rush after him, since the boy didn't know the way and would probably get lost.

The two arrived at the ramen shop in no time at all. Itachi had caught up to Naruto fairly quickly and had started carrying him over the rooftops. Ducking underneath the curtains separating the shop from the streets, Itachi and Naruto both took seats at the counter and began looking at the menu.

"Hello!" the old owner of Ichiraku called out. He was surprised when he saw the two who were seated at his counter. They were two of the most well known people in Konoha, the genius of the Uchiha clan, Itachi, and his charge Naruto, the container of the most notorious demon in Konoha history. "You two must be Uchiha Itachi-san and Uzumaki Naruto-san. Nice to meet you!"

Unsure what to do in the face of someone not only greeting him politely but saying that it was nice to meet him, Naruto stuttered out a quiet greeting. Itachi just returned the formalities in kind, but in a far quieter and more monotonous voice.

"What will you have?" Teuchi asked, smiling. He respected Naruto because he held in the Kyuubi, preventing it from destroying Konoha, and he also respected Itachi, and not for the usual reason of the raven being incredibly intelligent and powerful for his age. He respected the man because he stood up for Naruto, even going past mission parameters.

"I'll have one pork ramen, and he'll have one miso and one vegetable," Itachi said. The blonde opened his mouth to protest, but Itachi cut him off. "Naruto-kun, you will eat something healthy. You can't hope to succeed as a shinobi if you don't eat right." That shut the fox boy up. He wanted to be even better than Achi-chan some day, so he wouldn't be a burden to his only friends and so that he would be respected by everyone in the village, rather than just a few!

Teuchi chuckled under his breath when the blonde started complaining. He'd always heard that Itachi completely lacked any emotion whatsoever, but seeing his interaction with the boy that really didn't seem to be the case.

He then turned to make the requested ramen. Normally his twelve year old daughter **(AN:// I don't know her actual age, but I'm assuming she's nineteen in the original series, which would make her twelve here) **Ayame would be helping him, but right now she had a bunch of homework from the civilian school. He knew she'd be happy to meet the two, though. She was always getting into trouble at school because she'd defend Naruto.

Finishing the ramen, Teuchi set it down in front of his first two customers for the day. Itachi ate his slowly, careful not to spill any, while Naruto gobbled his down, somehow managing to not get a spot on him. Setting down the bowl of miso ramen, Naruto exclaimed how good it had been. He'd finished both bowls in record time, and Itachi was only halfway through his.

"Hey, Achi-chan, can I have another bowl? Please?" Naruto asked, pouting.

"No," was Itachi's reply. Before Naruto could ask why not, he continued. "You already brought home at the least two strays, probably more. I already let you have your way against my better judgment once today, and eating too much of anything is bad for you."

Naruto couldn't help but wonder how the hell Itachi always seemed to know what he was thinking.

"I know what you're always thinking, Naruto-kun, because you're predictable," Itachi said.

The blonde was clearly shocked at how well Itachi had been able to read his mind. He couldn't possibly be that easy to predict!

"You can in fact be that easy to predict," Itachi said, answering Naruto's mental question.

The blonde was now thoroughly convinced that his guardian had some kind of mind reading power. This was just not possible!

While Naruto had a melt down because he thought his mind was being read, Itachi finished his ramen and put the money down on the counter. He said a polite goodbye to the owner, before telling Naruto to stop day dreaming and come on. Naruto jumped an inch or two before yelling out a goodbye to Teuchi and running after Itachi.

The kind old man smiled after them, amused by their antics. He really hoped that the two would come back. He could do with some entertainment every now and then.

* * *

_(1 month later. Day of the first graduation test)_

Naruto looked around the classroom, not showing how nervous he was. Even though he'd been training with Itachi lately and he didn't actually need to graduate, just to get a high enough score to allow him to remain with his class, the teachers weren't always fair in grading his tests. The blonde new he was as good as or better than most of the seven year olds taking the test with him, so his only problem was badly weighted projectiles, screwed up tests, his chakra flaring (although his chakra control had been steadily improving), the teacher 'forgetting' to mark something in his favor, etc.

Watching the other children enter the graduation room, he tried to calm himself down using some meditation technique his guardian had taught him. Speaking of, the council was pushing to get Itachi put back on more advanced missions, so Naruto might soon stop being able to see one of his two human friends regularly, and because of politics the Hokage couldn't visit him too often.

When he heard his name called Naruto straightened and walked into the adjoining room. Here was where he'd be tested on the three basic ninjutsu abilities; the henge, the bunshin, and the kawarimi. The blonde settled into the stance that Itachi had taught him was best for circulating chakra and formed the necessary hand seal. He decided to start out with the kawarimi, since that was what he was mediocre at. Naruto did fairly well on this, scoring at the average level for someone in his class, which was impressive for a five year old. He then performed the bunshin, that being his worst. As predicted the chakra flare that occurred every time he gathered chakra ruined the technique, causing only one dead looking clone to appear. He then performed the henge, because of that being his best technique by far, turning into a perfect copy of the exam proctor. Luckily, he was one who only felt mild dislike for Naruto and so the blonde was scored at slightly below average for kawarimi, way below average for bunshin, and at the top of his class for henge. He ended up with a pretty much average score.

Grinning, Naruto walked into the next room. Here he would be tested on weapons. All traces of joy vanished from his visage when he saw the identity of his teacher. She was the bitchy Inuzuka that had aided in his capture shortly before his beating. He briefly wondered how she'd gotten off from that, before remembering that she'd disappeared from the crowd before Itachi showed. Her dog had probably warned her.

She glared at him, but didn't say a word. Naruto could sense fear in her stance, and correctly guessed that Itachi had found her chakra signature and has taken it upon himself to insure that she didn't lay a hand on him, either physically or verbally. Her dog growled at him, narrowing her eyes.

"Stupid fox," the canine snarled. "You should've been a good little kit and died when the hunters came after you."

Angry at the dog's words, and knowing that the Inuzuka couldn't understand Universal, Naruto responded in kind. "So, I guess the puppies can't get over the fact that foxes are smarter than them? I am quite surprised actually. I didn't know that the descendants of Prince Epesi Mguu would sink so low as to carry a grudge for so long after an event."

The dog snarled, upset that Naruto had insulted the first dog ever, the one who had dared to break away from the Wolf Packs and form his own pack, one of street wolves, excelling in urban ground, where wolves specialized in wild areas, preferably untouched by humanoids of any kind. The Thunder Pack, as the first street wolves called themselves because of how the noises of a large city sounded to those who were used to the forests and the plains, soon became known as dogs. Prince Epesi Mguu had also been a nin-dog, although not all of his followers and offspring were such.

Naruto knew that the human girl hadn't even picked up on the fact that the two were talking. It went without saying that Mao, the dog, wouldn't tell Manami, the girl, what had transpired. Not only did she probably not know of the history of dogs (and she called herself a dog master?), but it would bring shame upon Mao to admit that she'd disgraced the one that dogs world wide practically worshiped, even if she admitted it to someone who didn't know how shameful the act was.

Picking up one of the kunai on the table, Naruto turned to face the target. He could easily tell that the kunai was unbalanced, and therefore would be hard to throw. Testing its weight in his hand, he then threw it so that, had it been normal, it would've shot far above the target. Because of how it was weighted, though, it dropped suddenly, impacting in the target with a thud. The place he'd hit wasn't worth many points, and the kunai wasn't too deeply in, so it was a shallow victory. Manami scowled nonetheless.

Picking up the other kunai, Naruto threw them in succession. Most landed in areas worth little points. Of the ten kunai two landed in areas worth a medium amount of points, and one landed in a vital area, scoring him enough points to partially compensate for the one that missed and the hatred the Inuzuka girl felt for him.

Going to the shuriken, Naruto noticed that not only were they badly weighted, but were extremely misshapen. The kunai had been slightly deformed, but not enough to seriously affect their ability to do damage. A lopsided shuriken wouldn't be able to spin through the air towards its target, though. Gulping, the blonde threw all ten shuriken at the target, only three impacting. The other four clattered to the ground, useless. One of the three had landed in a spot worth a medium amount of points.

Naruto then approached the senbon. He knew that when conditions were normal he was the worst at throwing senbon, but the needles were almost impossible to make incorrectly. Composing himself Naruto picked up the first senbon, finding it to be of average quality. Good.

He knew that accuracy, rather than the ability to hit the target, was required when using senbon, so he concentrated and aimed for the circles marked as senbon target areas. Eight out of the ten senbon impacted with their intended target, the other two landing outside the white circles.

Minami scowled once again as she wrote down his results. He'd done way below average on the shuriken test, and average on the kunai test (although the dog girl marked it as slightly below average), and he'd done far above average on the senbon test, most seven year olds not having the concentration to hit the targets. His success with the senbon was also downplayed. His final score came out to be slightly below average, his failure with the shuriken canceling out his ability with the senbon.

Trying his best to remain calm Naruto walked into the next room, where he'd be tested on genjutsu. Luckily most of it was theory, since seven year olds rarely had the chakra control necessary for actual illusions, although there was a part that tested illusion casting.

Sitting down at the only desk in the room, Naruto filled out the test sheet on genjutsu theory. This was one of the two written tests he'd be taking that day, the other being on general shinobi history and theory.

Completing the genjutsu quiz Naruto stood in front of the exam proctor, who happened to be a Hyuuga. Damn. Even though the Hyuuga clan didn't hate him for taking up Itachi's time, and actually took pleasure in the hindrance on the young genius, they were one of those stick up their asses old clans that hated the jinchuuriki with a vengeance.

Composing himself mentally and physically, Naruto started gathering chakra. He'd learned how to partially sense when chakra flares were approaching, and could lower his chakra output accordingly some of the time. Despite his huge increase in chakra control since Itachi had begun training him, Naruto was still unable to do genjutsu properly, only summoning a faint ball of what looked like loose floating particles rather than the orb of light that was intended. The Hyuuga marked something down on his clipboard, probably noting the blonde's efforts as pitiful.

Shoulders slumped in defeat, Naruto exited the room and walked into the room intended for the taijutsu test. His efforts at genjutsu had been far below the average, even though he knew that most kids probably couldn't even do that much unless they were from a clan like the Yamanakas or the Uchihas.

The taijutsu teacher was one of the ones that outright hated him. Naruto didn't like where this was going. For the taijutsu test the student was supposed to run through the kata and then demonstrate the ability to apply it by fighting in a low level battle with the teacher. The examiner wasn't to use more than a certain level of ability, in order to ensure fairness. Naruto knew that his teacher wasn't about to hold back anytime soon. If Itachi was going to remain his bodyguard indefinitely he might threaten the shinobi with retribution if he did anything unfair, but sadly that wasn't the case.

Concentrating on the task at hand, simultaneously blocking out the teacher's hateful glare, Naruto performed the required kata with no imperfections. Ability to fight without using chakra had been one of the things Itachi had reinforced, believing it to be not only extremely useful in the short run, because of Naruto's poor chakra control, but also beneficial in the long run, in case Naruto ever got into a fight where he couldn't use chakra or conserving chakra was important (or on the off chance that his chakra control still stunk).

The teacher obviously wasn't happy with his ability too execute the repetitive movements used in the kata, so simply marked his score on that as 'performed lazily', trying to belittle Naruto in any way possible. The blonde slipped into a basic defensive pose as the second part of the taijutsu exam began. Itachi had also helped him in this, teaching him an alternative style of fighting that was far more conservative and more effective than most fighting styles, but Naruto knew better than to use it here. Not only would he be showing potential, which he didn't plan to do until either Itachi became his permanent guardian or sometime after he became a ninja, but the teacher would undoubtedly mark him down for not using the assigned taijutsu style, although he would give other children points for creativity. Instead the blonde used the Academy taijutsu, which he had also learned with Itachi for the sake of tests such as these.

The fight lasted a while, Naruto's enormous stamina showing through. He was eventually beaten on pure base of skill, the chunin using more power than was allowed. It was noted that the blonde had a high level of stamina, but his fighting ability was recorded as below average and he was said to be reckless. Naruto now knew for certain why the Hokage had said that Itachi wasn't to know the name of Naruto's proctors. The violent raven would wring the man's neck for this. Not that Naruto would mind, of course, but Itachi might get in trouble.

Accepting the ruling, Naruto moved on to the final stage of the test, a written quiz on the various theories presented in the shinobi world, current politics, and history. Also several sciences that applied to shinobi, math, and the ability to look underneath the underneath, solving riddles and puzzles, were tested. Naruto, not having a very good memory or abilities of deduction did poorly on the history and math parts. He was far from a natural at politics, but they interested him so he had studied them, and came in with an average score. Theory and sciences he varied in ability on, depending on the thing. Some he came in above average, some he came in below average. The one thing that he really excelled in, being a trickster by nature, was the riddle and puzzle solving. Like with the senbon test he scored the highest score in his grade, much to the chagrin of his teacher. Luckily, this one was a coward and so scored Naruto as slightly below average.

All told, Naruto had gotten one average score, three below averages, and one bottom of the class. It wasn't enough to even pass the test enough to stay in the grade, average being the acceptable level all around, although slightly below average was often accepted. Thanks to his teachers Naruto looked like an all around failure, and he was sure that the only one nice enough to give him an average grade would be told off as overly nice and lenient, liable to give the test takers higher scores than the deserved.

It wasn't that big of a deal. The younger children would be less affected by their parent's hatred, and he would have a new batch of teachers. He would also be closer to the age of the other children. Naruto's only dilemma was that he thought Itachi would be mad at him for being a weak, useless failure and would stop being nice to him, instead treating him like everyone else did.

Naruto ran out of the building when school dismissed, instantly locating Itachi. The two feel into step, neither saying a thing. Itachi had already heard of Naruto's failure from the other chunin, and sincerely wanted to find the names of the people who had tested the blonde. The raven could now see the point in Naruto's supposedly stupid and useless pranks. A humiliating prank was the best way of getting back at someone without having consequences dealt out. For instance, it was more preferable to torture the people that pissed him off to death, but that would get him in trouble and have him labeled a missing nin, whereas if he played pranks although his reputation would go down the drain he wouldn't suffer any other negative side effects, and unlike most Uchihas Itachi didn't give a flying fuck about pride or appearances.

Opening the door to their apartment, Itachi stepped inside and leaned against the wall, looking relaxed. "How did the test go?" he asked the blonde, wanting to hear it from Naruto's own mouth.

The five year old boy looked down in shame, not wanting to disappoint his mentor and friend. To top that off he could sense Crimson Mare and her four kittens, Kitsune Mare, Raven Mare, Shadow Stallion, and Fire Mare, gathering nearby. "I failed," he whispered. "I scored average on the ninjutsu test, but only because the proctor was nice. On the genjutsu test I scored last in my class, and on the others slightly below average. I'm sorry."

Hearing the pain in Naruto's voice, and comprehending his words, Itachi realized what was bothering the child. Naruto was worried that his first real friend would stop liking him because he failed. So he did the only thing he knew how to do in a situation like this. The raven knelt down and hugged the blonde against his chest awkwardly, not used to comforting people.

"Those people are just idiots," he said, voicing his thoughts not only on the proctors, but the entire village, especially his own clan. "They have no clue what they're talking about. You deserved to pass."

Naruto blushed faintly when Itachi hugged him, the blush only deepening at Itachi's words. "Thank you," Naruto whispered, his voice filled with gratitude as he returned the hug just as awkwardly as Itachi had given it.

After a few seconds they let go. Naruto was blushing still, and Itachi didn't know what to make of his new feelings. He wanted to continue to hold on to the blonde, to both comfort his charge and to draw comfort from him and his undying determination. Naruto just wished that the feeling could last forever, this being the first time he really knew what it felt to have someone care for you, and to return that care. He knew that Hogosha cared for him on some level, and he worried about the fox boy, but he had more pressing matters, and the love only ran as deep as it would for the son of a nephew he barely knew, and it was as if he hadn't known the child that long.

Smiling a true smile, this one far smaller and shyer than his normal fox grins, Naruto turned to start making dinner. The four kittens were now at a point where they were eating solid food, and the blonde wanted to be of service even though he now knew his friends would all stay by him no matter what.

Kitsune Mare, who had been named after Naruto for his fox like features, jumped up on the counter, offering to help with the food process. Still being a kitten she was very clumsy, though, and prone to accidents. Naruto told her he wanted to make the dinner himself, in celebration of their first month together as a family. The kitten accepted the explanation and went off to play with two of her siblings. The fourth, Raven Mare, was sitting on the couch next to her namesake, clearly not wishing to participate in the scuffle taking place at her feet.

Naruto laughed as he watched the five cats and one human interact. Finishing making their dinners, ramen for Naruto and Itachi and cat food with mixed with meat for the cats Naruto set the food down on the table and announced that dinner was served.

The seven creatures all sat down at their various places, Kitsune Mare and Shadow Stallion trying to steal each other's food, while keeping a hold of their own. Fire Mare sat beside her mother. Being the smallest she'd tired out quickly during the kittens' mini sparing match earlier, and didn't have the energy to play with Kitsune and Shadow. Raven Mare was sitting on the opposite side of the table, situated right next to Itachi. Despite the fact that he was fairly cold towards everyone around him, although he'd begun to loosen up around Naruto and the cats, she favored him, much like Kitsune favored Naruto.

They all finished their meals and retired to bed. Somehow they'd gotten into the pattern of Naruto curling up in the same bed as Itachi, while the cats would switch from the couch and the bed. As Naruto fell asleep the thought crossed his mind that Itachi might be put back on active duty soon, but he didn't have time to dwell on it as he sunk into unconsciousness.

* * *

**I'm really hyper right now because yesterday was my birthday! YAY ME! I get free presents and cake!!! And a valid excuse to break my diet! Whoo!**

**Sorry for that little rant... heh heh. Now on to the useful stuff!**

**Here's the description of the kittens:**

**Raven Mare: the first born kitten. She's pure black with dark gold eyes, and is very calm and doesn't tend to participate in her siblings scuffles. She has taught herself how to read, and will often do such. She is fairly petite, and the second smallest. Her namesake is Itachi.**

**Kitsune Mare: the second born. She's an orange cat with yellowish stripes, and the tip of her tail is blackish blue. /her eyes are also blue. She takes some kind of pleasure from doing things such as bringing in dead rodents and leaving them on Itachi's pillow, and will often hide things. She's the largest. Her namesake is Naruto**

**Shadow Stallion: the third born and the only make in the group. He's a dark grey with black, grey brown, and light grey spots. When not in a brightly colored and/ or brightly lit place he is hard to see, and enjoys sneaking up on people and other creatures, especially his eldest sister Raven, before pouncing on them. He's the second largest.**

**Fire Mare: the fourth born and the smallest in the litter. She has the redish fur of her mother mixed in with orange stripes and spots. The tips of her tail and ears are a yellowish shade. She has a low amount of energy normally, and eats a lot. Her metabolism in ineffective, though, so most of it is burned right away. She also has a voilatile temper, so she'll fight with Kitsune and Shadow and occasionally Raven despite the fact that she's the least likely to be able to hold her own in a fight. She also loathes water.**

**Believe it or not that part about Raven reading is possible. My cat reads all the time. It's really funny to bring my friends over and when they walk in there's a cat that looks older than 100 with a book open in front of him, focusing on the page.**

**Naruto is five throughtout this part of the story, and his class is all seven. In this story I decided to have graduation tests every couple of years. They're taken in the second year, the fifth year, and the seventh year. If you pass a certain point you become a ninja, but if you are way below average you get held back. If you are in the middle range you continue on with the rest of your class.**

**Translations:**

**Epesi Mguu- Swahili for Swift Paw. I hae no clue how to speak Swahili so if you know what's good for you don't quote me on this. you will be laughed at.**

**Please Review! It's reallyreallyreally easy, and it makes me feel appreciated! All you have to do is click that little blue button at the bottom of the page and type a few words! Anybody who gives constructive critisism, coments on a particular part of the story, or asks a question pertaining to the story or my profile gets a cookie! If you do more than one you get multiple cookies!!! If you don't have an account I accept anonymous reviews.**

**Also I want to know if anybody has any idea what the big secret of the Uchiha clan might be. I don't know if I'm being too obvious or being to vague. If you have evn the slightest idea, please tell me!**


	4. Shock! Rage Ignites!

**This is officially the fastest that I have ever updated. Fear not, for that does not mean this sucks more than it would if the update was later. I just worked on it far more in a certain span of days than I normally do, and more than is probably healthy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, and if you plan to sue me go ahead. My cousin's a lawyer, and I'm sure she'd be glad to take you up on that.**

**Warning: This is yaoi, of the ItaNaru variety. If you don't like then what the hell are you doing reading this?**

**Please review! Anybody who critisizes me, coments on a part of the story, asks a question, or answers one of the questions I ask at the end of the chapter gets a cookie! And if you do multiple of these, you get multiple cookies!**

**Speaking of reviews and the resulting treats, the following people get cookies: Clow Angel (2 cookies), PirateCaptainBo (1 cookie), mintfresh (2 cookies), and FallenPie gets the grand award of four cookies! All you other lovely reviewers get a pat on the back and my thnaks. You all make me feel so loved!**

**People, please don't flame. If you feel the compelling urge to flame me, then please do so correctly. If you flame me badly, or at all unless you raise a really good arguement, you will be publicly humiliated and flamed back.**

**There's a timeskip of two years here. Naruto's now eight and in Sasuke's class, while Itachi is thirteen.**

**This is the chapter where this story becomes such that it can be viewed two ways: completely and utterly AU, or same timeline that happens to diverge 150 years, give or take a few, before the start of the series.**

**If you like action, next chapter's the Uchiha Massacre, so that'll be plenty actiony. Also it's going to be way more of a spur of the moment decision here, rather than the premediated ordeal it was in the original manga.**

**Any and all chapters after 366 are liable to be ignored.**

* * *

(Two years later)

An eight year old Naruto stared out the classroom window, bored. He'd gone over this stuff last year. It wasn't lack of education that had prevented him from passing the second graduation exam.

At the least his teacher, Umino Iruka, was nice. And he was in a class with Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke, so he got to see his friend more often. The blonde hadn't seen Itachi since he turned eight, though, the raven haired Uchiha having been taken off of guard duty shortly after Naruto failed the first graduation exam.

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Iruka called out from the front of the classroom. Naruto was snapped out of his daydreaming and turned to look at his sensei. Many of the children in the class snickered at Naruto's predicament.

"What is it, Iruka-sensei?" the blonde asked. Iruka rarely interrupted him from his daydreaming.

The brown haired chunin sighed. He had at first hated the child just like everyone else when Naruto walked into his classroom a year ago, but now he realized that the blonde was not a monster as everyone seemed to think. "We're practicing the henge technique, Naruto. It's your turn to transform," Iruka explained.

Naruto nodded and walked to the front of the classroom. Even though he hadn't been able to train under Itachi anymore he still practiced, and had improved on the henge. Naruto was able to turn into an exact replica of Iruka, still being the best in his class.

The eight year old could hear his classmates grumbling about how he must have cheated in order to be able to transform so well. After all, it was ridiculous to expect such a dobe to be able to even begin to comprehend the henge, let alone perform it.

Naruto drifted off to sleep as Iruka continued the lesson for the day. They were reviewing the basics of disguise and acting, the essentials for a shinobi undercover. Naruto knew all of this and more. Between the stealth required for his pranks and his training from Itachi the blonde was quite the expert.

Woken suddenly by the ringing of the dismissal bell, Naruto started and looked around. When he saw the other kids leaving the pieces clicked into place and the blonde grabbed his things and ran out of the Academy. Luckily he still had the apartment he and Itachi had moved into, and all five cats still lived there, although they were prone to roaming.

Opening the door to his apartment, Naruto called out the now customary "I'm home!" in Universal, although the five cats could smell and sense him. Four of the five were home at the moment, Raven being the only one missing.

* * *

Itachi strode down the halls of the Uchiha clan compound. He'd just recently finished a mission, and his father had called him about something important.

Sliding open the door to the head family's meeting place and stepping in, Itachi knelt down on the mat in front of his father. "What is it that you wish to speak to me about, Fugaku-otousama?" he asked, his voice a monotone.

"You have been recommended into the ANBU, Itachi, and the recommendation was accepted," Fugaku said, his tone leaking dislike for the one he spoke to. "You will be starting your duties in a week. Until that time, you have come of an age to be fully accepted into the Uchiha clan." Either it was Itachi's imagination, or Fugaku looked triumphant at this last statement, as if he knew something that his eldest son did not.

"Very well, Otousama," Itachi said, waiting to be dismissed. His father then rose, motioning for Itachi to follow. The chunin, soon to be ANBU, followed.

They both walked through the Uchiha clan compound, heading towards the far outskirts. Along the way they were joined by an ANBU, two jounin, and two chunin. One of the chunin was Shisui.

Itachi glared at his cousin, warning him not to come closer. Ever since the mandatory clan meeting two years prior Itachi and Shisui had ceased to be friends, Itachi coming to hate the other Uchiha just as much as the rest of the clan, if not more.

They soon arrived at the Nakano Shrine. Only Itachi, Shisui, Fugaku, another chunin that Itachi had once worked with, and an ANBU entered. The two jounin stayed outside to keep watch.

Once inside the shrine Fugaku lifted up the seventh tatami mat, revealing a staircase leading downwards. The five shinobi entered the underground passageway, silenced by the ever increasingly oppressive aura that the place emitted.

They walked along a dirt corridor, lit only by the torch that the ANBU carried. Finally, after they had passed the last door Fugaku stopped in front of what appeared to be a blank space on the wall. He sped through a set of hand seals that Itachi didn't recognize, before slamming his palms into the dirt wall.

A door was swiftly outlined in blue and black light, before sinking into the ground. Beyond was a room with a single scroll in it, on the far wall from the door. Depictions of tengu demons were drawn on the side walls. The room was lit by two torches situated on either side of the scroll.

Fugaku and the three chunin all entered the scroll room, the ANBU staying outside the door. Itachi could hardly breathe in the face of the evil aura that the scroll emitted. Strangely enough, neither Shisui nor the other chunin seemed to be able to sense it. Itachi couldn't tell whether his father was unable to sense it or just used to it.

Expanding his senses, Itachi realized that the aura wasn't coming from the scroll, but from something hidden behind it. He had the feeling that his father wouldn't appreciate it if he pulled the scroll aside to have a look, so Itachi decided to come back later. He'd used the sharingan to memorize the technique used to get in.

"Read what is written there," Fugaku commanded. The three chunin silently nodded, walking up to the scroll.

Itachi's eyes widened almost imperceptibly when he read what was written upon the scroll. As what was written before him sunk in his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched of their own accord.

The scroll appeared to be a journal of sorts, ending shortly after the founding of Konoha. Itachi noted that, despite the tendency of the Uchiha clan to not reuse names, the name Uchiha Madara could be found twice. Strangely enough the first time the name was mentioned had been when the sharingan came into being, and one hundred years later when Konoha and the Uchiha clan were officially founded.

Neither Madara had been anything within a million miles of a good guy. The second had been the closest friend of the Shodaime, but had betrayed him and become a missing nin. The first had been slain by the Kyuubi no Kitsune when she decided to massacre the Uchiha clan, over 150 years before her attack on the leaf village.

In Itachi's opinion the first Madara had gotten what he deserved. Even though it was a bit over the top of the Kyuubi to kill everyone in the clan except for Madara's daughter and the twin children of Madara and the fox's mate,her anger was understandable. The journal catalogued it as if the current leader of the Uchiha clan had been a hero, 'controlling' the mighty Kyuubi no Tengu, giving the Uchiha clan two new weapons and future access to the legendary sharingan.

Apparently the second Madara had rejuvinated the sharingan, training potential wielders to be able to gain its ultimate form and be the most powerful. He was declared a missing nin because evidence was found of his plots to overthrow the government of Konoha.

Within the scroll were also the secrets of the sharingan, including the Mangekyou Sharingan and the version of the sharingan that the demon ancestors of the Uchiha clan had possessed. According to the scroll, there were four known jutsus that could be used in combination with the Mangekyou, and each had its own version of the shape of the eye. The way in which you gained the various versions differed, also.

In order to gain the Tsukiyomi, one must kill their closest precious person without feeling a flicker of doubt or regret. The requirement for the Amaratsu was to put your most precious person through hell on earth, but to avoid killing them. The Susano required not only the first two, but at the least temporary access to a demon's energy, used by the sharingan wielder in conjunction with Amaratsu and Tsukiyomi. The fourth technique, a so far unnamed jutsu used to transport enemies and objects into a void like dimension, was gained by sheer dedication, the user blocking themselves off from all contact for at the least two and a half years and training almost non stop. The shape of the demon eye and the requirement for gaining it weren't listed, and were actually noted as being unknown.

Itachi was suspicious at the fact that several thing seemed to be missing from the scroll, most notably the record of recent events. He correctly guessed that these were the hidden secrets.

Having finished reading the scroll, all three chunin turned towards Fugaku. "I'm assuming that you three are done?" the current head of the Uchiha clan asked.

"Hai Fugaku-sama," the three replied in unison.

"Good," Fugaku said. "You two, follow me. Itachi, you are dismissed."

Wondering why he was the only one not being asked to accompany his father, Itachi bowed and left the scroll room. When he started walking down the corridor he was followed by the ANBU. Apparently the escort and guard system had been in place because of him. Maybe to prevent him from wandering and finding out things he wasn't meant to know.

The ANBU escorted Itachi outside of the shrine, before poofing away. The two jounin guards remained in place as Itachi returned to the village, avoiding the clan compound. He needed to think on how he was to get into the scroll room without being noticed by the patrolling ANBU.

* * *

Naruto focused his chakra to his feet, trying to get the chakra control technique that Itachi had shown him right. He was having very little success, but was still making progress. Finally managing to get his chakra down to a level where the chakra flares wouldn't send him flying, Naruto ran at the tree.

And fell right back down. Apparently he had lowered his chakra output too much. Undeterred, Naruto stood right back up and focused his chakra once again, this time putting all of his energy into predicting the chakra flares rather than simply using so little chakra that the flares didn't make any difference. This time he was able to get twice as high as he had been previously.

Grinning at his success, for the difference was quite noticeable, Naruto practiced the technique for about another hour, before remembering that Itachi had told him that he didn't want to focus on just chakra control, because then his muscles and intellect would fall behind. This is mind he started practicing the taijutsu he'd learned from Itachi.

Surprisingly enough, the taijutsu style wasn't one found in Konoha. Most shinobi of the leaf preferred flashier styles, oftentimes sacrificing effectiveness for how traditional something was, or how it looked. The taijutsu Naruto was learning was designed to use the body's energy to its fullest, focusing on stability rather than grace. It wasn't very good for fighting at a distance, but Itachi had also taught Naruto some effective ways of getting close to the enemy so that point was null and void.

Pausing to catch his breath, Naruto heard the sounds of someone shifting in the underbrush. Spinning towards the sound, he slipped into a defensive stance and called out, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

Hearing his words a girl Naruto's age, whom he vaguely recognized as being in his class, stepped into the clearing. She had short black hair that fell in bangs in front of her face, and light lavender eyes. Between these two facts Naruto was able to identify her as a Hyuuga.

"M-my n-name is Hy-hyuua Hinata," she stuttered out, blushing and looking at the ground. Naruto could easily tell she had confidence issues.

_'Well, at the least she isn't a stuck up prick like that Hyuuga kid I was in a class with last year. What was his name again? Nate... No, that's not it. __Reji?__ No again. Ah well, doesn't really matter,' _Naruto thought while looking at the girl.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto!" he announced, holding his hand out and grinning. She blushed even more and tentatively shook his hand. "What're you doing out here?"

"I c-came out here to t-train," she said, flustered and at the same time reassured by Naruto's straight forward attitude. "And th-then I heard you, and wanted t-to see what you were d-doing."

"Hinata-chan, wanna train with me?" Naruto asked. He knew that the girl probably wouldn't want to spend much time with him, because even if she didn't hate him she more than likely feared her parents' wrath.

She was shocked. She never thought that anyone would actually want to train with her! Such a thing had never occurred in Hinata's lifetime, since all of her senseis and sparring partners had been such because they were ordered to.

Misinterpreting her silence and shock as disgust, Naruto started to apologize. "I'm sorry if you don't want to train with me.. I didn't mean to offend."

"N-no! Yu d-didn't offend m-me! It's just… It's just that n-no one has ever wanted to t-train with me before!" Hinata rushed to explain, not wanting her new friend to leave. She knew that he father wouldn't approve of her training with the child that he'd specifically forbidden her to interact with, but she also figured that he didn't need to find out.

Naruto's face split nearly in half as he grinned. "Yatta!" he shouted, jumping in the air. "I've got a new friend!"

Hinata was flustered and happy when Naruto said she was his friend. She'd never had any friends before, her family treating her coldly and she was too shy in school. She smiled at the cheering blonde. Maybe things weren't so bad, after all.

* * *

The ANBU currently guarding the Nakano Shrine shifted, an uneasy feeling settling in her chest. She'd been assigned the easiest job for a starting ANBU they had, and had been drifting off. She knew that it wasn't a good idea for any shinobi, especially an elite one, to fall asleep on the job. She couldn't help it though. Guarding such a remote and little known and targeted place was so damn boring!

Her senses alert suddenly, she cast about for foreign chakra signatures, but felt none. Before she could react a chakra that she vaguely recognized flared behind her before her world descended into blackness.

* * *

Crimson eyes shone in the small amount of ethereal light that lingered in the caverns underneath the Uchiha clan. Veins of a glowing stone, which had not been visible in the torch light, ran throughout the passageways. A shapeless figure, cloaked in brown and gray, flitted from shadow to shadow, the slight movement every now and then the only thing giving its presence away.

It stopped at the very far wall of a dead end hallway. A pale, ghostly hand rose from the cloak, resting lightly on the wall. Without warning chakra began to radiate into the stone, causing a spider web of dark blue lines to appear, extending into the shape of a door. The slab of stone hardly made a sound as it sunk into the floor, torch light flooding the hallway. The hidden door rose back into place as the figure stepped inside the revealed room.

Itachi lowered the hood of his cloak, eyes searching the room for signs of traps. Finding none, he approached the scroll hanging on the wall opposite him.

Disposing of the ANBU guard had been easy. All he needed to do was suppress his chakra signature to the point where he appeared to be nothing more than a wild animal. It had been simple to knock the ANBU out from there using a mild lightning attack. He had also used small electric pulses to rewire her recent memory, making her remember falling asleep and nothing more.

Itachi quickly checked the area right around and on the scroll for traps. It wouldn't surprise him if the Uchiha clan went so far as to install deadly traps in order to safeguard their secrets. He wasn't disappointed.

After disabling the traps, Itachi carefully took the scroll off of the wall. Behind it was what seemed to be a blank stone wall, but Itachi found that it was nothing more than an elaborate genjutsu. Knowing it would be foolish to try to release and the reinstall the genjutsu, Itachi took a risk and stuck his hand through the fake wall.

Nothing happened. No fireballs or blinking red lights to be found. His calculations that the Uchiha were so full of themselves that they wouldn't think anybody could get this far were apparently correct. Feeling around, Itachi's hand landed on a large wooden box. The raven slowly retracted it, once again without any negative consequences.

Very little of it was actually made of wood. There was a pearl inlay on the top, and gems crusted the sides. It had obviously once been a show casing of some kind, designed to impress visitors with the wealth of the owner. The lock was also of a high quality, and looked very complex.

Itachi proved that looks can be deceiving when he opened the lock with a simple lock pick that he'd long since learned to carry around with him. Strangely enough he'd picked the habit up from Naruto, who was quite accomplished at breaking into places in order to retrieve the materials necessary for his pranks or to actually carry them out.

Opening the lid, Itachi saw a surprisingly small scroll. Not knowing what to expect he untied the ribbon holding it shut and rolled it open. Several seals dotted the length, intended to hold even more scrolls.

Not having the time to read every single journal, Itachi took advantage of the fact that the scrolls were categorized by date created and took out the scrolls pertaining to the past twenty years.

Fully aware that it would be foolish to walk out of the shrine with the scrolls, since he might not be able to get back in, Itachi started reading them right where he was. Unrolling the first one, which was dated twelve years before the Kyuubi no Kitsune attack Konoha, Itachi began reading.

The only thing of interest in that scroll was that the Uchiha clan had a spy network in every main household in Konoha, and many in other countries. They were almost in the perfect position to take over the world by now. All they needed was fighting power to take out any resistance.

Reading further, Itachi discovered that ten years before the Kyuubi attack the Uchiha had captured and sealed away the Kyuubi no Tengu, all without the knowledge of Konoha.

Skipping to the records pertaining to just before the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, Itachi found out that, despite what he'd thought, the Uchiha clan had had nothing whatsoever to do with the Kyuubi attack. The fact that she'd massacred them just one hundred fifty years prior and that they were holding her mate against her will was pure coincidence.

It did say something about the traitorous snake having a hand in the whole thing. Apparently the Uchiha had been getting in the way of his thirst for power with their own ambitions, so he'd tried to wipe them out, Konoha along with them.

In the eight years since the Kyuubi attack, the Uchiha had been growing increasingly ambitious. Mention was made several times of their ultimate weapon, which would provide them the edge over the other countries and clans.

Itachi realized that he must have skipped where the ultimate weapon was created, and therefore what it was. A nagging little voice which constantly lurked on the edge of his subconsciousness, and had been for as long as he could remember, told him that it was something he should know, and which would have a huge effect on him.

Immensely curious, Itachi sought out the scrolls he'd skipped. Between the two of them they covered a total of ten years. He'd already read the first three years of one, and so skipped that portion. Scanning the scroll, Itachi found nothing of interest until he came upon the time when his mother was found to be pregnant.

According to the scroll, though, she'd been pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl. Assuming that what would've been his twin sister had been stillborn, Itachi read on.

There were many reports of preparations for some kind of ritual. Not even the barest details were given about them, and their purpose was indiscernible.

Itachi stiffened when he read the part pertaining to his own birth. The scroll slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor, unnoticed. The raven's eyes had dilated until almost none of the iris remained, the sharingan deactivating as Itachi began to descend into a state of semi panic, unable to retain the control required.

The words he'd just read played over and over in his mind, taunting him, torturing him. As Itachi hovered on the brink of a complete mental breakdown, something shifted within.

The panic that overrode his mind was quickly consumed and destroyed in the raging forest fire that was everlasting hate unveiled, fed by uncontrollable rage. A red film settled over Itachi's eyes as crimson tears rolled down his cheeks.

His body felt as if it erupted into flame, concentrated around his eyes, hands, and shoulder blades. A power he'd never felt before flooded his body, burning the chakra coils. He'd only ever felt anything even remotely similar once, so long ago now that if he hadn't been so terrified the memory would've been forgotten.

The torches flared, and he could sense the Uchihas in the surrounding area waking, and beginning to panic. After all, their plans had all been for naught, instead only leading to their downfall.

The ceiling above Itachi crumbled as in one mighty leap he rocketed skywards, breaking through the ground. He came to rest upon the highest pole in the Uchiha clan compound, looking down upon the people running about on the street below, now taking notice of him and turning their faces towards the full moon, shining brilliantly behind him. They were all gawking. If Itachi hadn't been so enraged he would've found their expressions amusing.

Standing at his full height, Itachi expanded the black wings that jutted from his shoulder blades to their full length, the claws that had taken place of his hands flexing. And he smile wickedly, the bloodlust roaring through his mentality.

The only thing on his mind was those few paragraphs. The paragraphs that recording the damning of one Uchiha Itachi and the downfall of the entire Uchiha clan.

* * *

_'On the 9__th__ of J__une, in the year 43(1), the ultimate weapon of the Uchiha clan was created by sealing the Kyuubi no Tengu into a jinchuuriki._

_In order to insure the success of the sealing, the blood of the twin sister of the jinchuuriki was used as a binding agent and a bridge for the demon's powers. This was done because the sacrifice of a blood relative is always required to transfer demonic powers into a child, the closer the better, and parents of the jinchuuriki were not expendable._

_This jinchuuriki shall be known to the rest of the world as Uchiha Itachi.'_

* * *

**I bet that not a single one of you saw that coming…sorry that the chapter's so short, but I really wanted to leave that cliffhanger!!!**

**Since I don't want you all to hate me for an ****uber**** short update, I decided to lengthen the chapter with a special omake! (feel free to skip this and go on to the author's note at the bottom)**

* * *

Omake: Adventures of Prince Epesi Mguu

Scroll One: The Beautiful Princess Kit

Prince Epesi Mguu was laying in the clearing in front of his den. The tall metal trees of the two leg's jungle rose high above him, and the sounds of the Grumbles filled the air. All was well in his kingdom. The pups were many and strong, and famine was a thing of the past.

Prince Epesi Mguu was bored, though. Nothing had been happening recently. Being the only dog pack in existence the Thunder Pack didn't need to compete with others of their kind for territory or hunting rights, and there was little hunting to be done in man's jungle.

Deciding to roam around too see if there was anyone new to meet, Epesi Mguu strolled down the paths of the city, his royal head held high. While walking in a clearing he saw the most beautiful creature that he'd ever laid eyes on. Her coat was a brilliant red color, the tips of her tail and ears white. Her eyes were a laughing, sparkling green, showing keen intelligence. Her body was lithe, and her fur was lush and thick.

She moved with a feline grace, darting through the crowds of humans. Epesi Mguu ran after her, intent on discovering this unique beauty's name. Stopping briefly to grab a piece of meat from the front of a butcher's shop, dashing away before he could be caught, the great dog lord ran after the lovely fox.

"Excuse me, Madam," he said in Universal, trotting up beside her. "Might I ask you for your name?"

She looked him then, her eyes showing mirth and joy, like they always had. "Why, such manners! I am the Princess Kit. What might your name be, Sir?" she laughed. Her voice sounded like a bell's ringing.

"I am the leader of the Thunder Pack, Prince Epesi Mguu. It is a great pleasure of mine to be able to converse with one so lovely as yourself," he said, bowing.

She laughed once again, bowing in return. "It is my pleasure, kind sir! Such gentlemen as yourself are rare these days. Might I ask if you are planning on eating that sausage all by your lonesome self?" She had of course seen him run after her and grab the sausage, and knew that he intended it as a gift.

"Why, of course not my lady! It would be rude of me to not offer to share with a companion. Might we dine somewhere more comfortable?" he offered.

"Why, naturally!" Kit laughed. "I know just the place! This way!" So saying she leapt to her feet and started running, Epesi Mguu close behind.

They had run for not even five minutes when Kit slowed down. They were in a part of the city that Epesi Mguu did not recognize, but he was determined to not loose face and ask where they were.

He had nothing to worry about, so it seemed, for Kit was apparently lost as well. "Oh, my," she said, tail and ears drooping. "I am quite afraid that we have gotten lost on the way. These human jungles confuse me so."

Knowing that he would only look like a fool if he offered to lead and only got more lost, Epesi Mguu decided to swallow his pride. "Well, then we should only ask for directions. I'm sure one of the locals knows where we are."

"That's a great idea! But I'm not very good at striking up a conversation. Why don't you do it, Epesi-kun?" she suggested. The dog nodded and strode up to one of the humans. The fox, who was currently lurking in the shadows and trying not to be seen, could only think of how gullible he was.

"Excuse me, sir," Epesi Mguu called out in Universal to the human. "Might you be able to tell us how to find our way to the Spire from here?"

The human looked down at Epesi Mguu, an expression of surprise crossing his features. He said something in Human, which Epesi was unable to comprehend. Kit understood what the human was saying perfectly though, and had to struggle not to laugh.

Epesi had accidently approached a young boy, whose mother was currently in the shop he was standing in front of. The child, probably only eight years of age, squealed, "Puppy!" in Human and grabbed the scruff of Epesi Mguu's neck.

The Prince, realizing that something was going on, tried to wriggle free. His efforts were to no avail. The child only tightened his grip and scolded the dog.

Epesi realized that he'd been tricked when he heard a cruel, feminine laughter originating from the fence. It wasn't Kit, for she was being careful not to reveal her presence, but instead Kitty, the cat Princess. Kitty and Epesi had been at odds for a long time.

The feline, as black as pitch, looked down at her adversary with amusement shinning in her golden eyes. Dark violet and dark blue shimmered in her pelt as she moved, creating a mystifying effect. "Well, well," she drawled in Universal. "Look at what the fox dragged in."

Before Prince Epesi Mguu could reply the child's mother exited the shop. She saw her son with his hand buried in the scruff of a dog's neck, and of course raised a commotion. She and the boy spoke for a bit, before she finaly relented, deciding to let her son keep the dog.

Epesi Mguu stared back in horror as he was dragged away. Kit then emerged from the shadows, laughing her enchanting laugh. "Fool!" she cried. "Remember this, and remember it well! Thine own grandiloquent airs shall be thy downfall! Thy pompous kind shall be such no more! The era of their rule is come to and end! Man shall determine their fate!"

Snarling at the fox, Epesi Mguu replied. "Curse thy name and thy kin, fox! From this day forth I shall hunt you and your ilk to the ends of the Earth, until not a single fox is left breathing! If my breath is stolen from me before this goal is accomplished my descendents shall take up the hunt! Run and hide little fox! Cower in your den!"

True to his word, Epesi Mguu escaped from the boy two years later. By then news of the trickery the fox had played had spread far and wide, and his kind were being taken in by Man as pets. The animals of the wild and of the streets laughed at him. Such a fool, to let his pride and conceitedness get him caught! Did he really think he could woo the magnificent fox Princess Kit?

The humiliation that the vixen had cause only increased Epesi Mguu's desire for revenge. He swore an all out war on the foxes, and since that day many dogs have upheld his example, striking out at foxes whenever the opportunity presents itself. The foxes are cunning though, and are hard to catch and harder to kill. So the cycle repeats, each new generation of dogs being taught to hate foxes, and each new generation of foxes to taunt dogs.

* * *

**Yah, I know that I can't write ****omakes**

**(1) as far as I have the attention span to research no mention is made of when their year count starts, so I'm taking advantage of artistic liberty and saying it starts when the villages were all founded, about 60 years before the start of the manga and anime, when Naruto's twelve.**

**Translations:**

**Otousama- combination of otousan (japanese for father) and sama (suffix used to refer to someone in a way higher position than you)**

**Kyuubi no Tengu- Nine tailed bird demon. In this story all Tengu are raven demons, and their appearance differs greatly from the traditional conception of them.**

**Because I'm curious about several things, I'm going to ask a few questions I'd like you, my dear readers and (hopefully) reviewers, to answer.**

**Did any of you see the big reveal at the end coming?**

**If you didn't, were you surprised?**

**What do you think of my (****sucky****) omake?**

**Do you think this is going to slow, or vice versa?**

**What do you think of this chapter?**

**Well, that'd it for what I want to know.**

**Btw, the scene where Naruto met Hinata did have a point other than filler. They're also not about to get together any time soon, so ****don't**** worry if you're not a ****NaruHina**** fan. And for all of you Hinata haters, she won't be appearing again for a long while, and the length of her reappearance will depend on the reviewers' opinions (which I am not asking for at this point) and where the story is.**

**Please review! If you don't have an account I except anonymous reviews.**

**Ja ne!**


	5. The Black Cat's Warning! Run!

**Here's the fifth chapter of Path of the Not So Rightous Warrior!**

**Warning: This is YAOI, of the ItaNaru variety. Don't like, I have a NaruKyuu version of this posted.**

**People who get cookies: Chishiyo Ame (4) and Rickacurser (6)**

**To the person(s) that seems to think voting is still open: voting closed. A NarutoxFemkyuubi version is posted. Please stop spamming me. Thank you.**

**Oh, for any of you that were looking forward to a huge fight scene: srry to disappoint, but I kinda suck big time at fight scenes, so I instead focused on the emotional part of it and included a net total of one or two lines, maybe three, about the actual action. You're not missing out on anything, though. I can write one on one fight scenes fairly decently, but my one vs a bunch of people fight scenes sound like a six year old wrote them...**

**Please review! Contructive critisism is welcome, and if you have any questions I will answer them. Ty!**

* * *

Raven slunk through the shadows that danced along the edges of one of the many alleyways in Konoha. She had been feeling restless lately, as if something bad was going to happen. Instinct combined with tradition told her not to ignore this gut feeling.

The she-cat felt the urgent need to find her human. That was the only thing throwing her off. From her mother's descriptions normally Bad Feelings told one to head uphill, hide under a rock, stock up on food, vacate the area, or something of the like. The only time when the urge to find someone was felt was when a mother cat's kittens were in danger and she was urged to protect them or a cat's mate was in danger. Raven had neither kittens nor mate.

Of course, her human had been acting strangely lately. Not only did she rarely see him anymore, but he smelt weird when she did see him and acted on edge. Maybe he was getting the same Bad Feeling.

Unable to locate her human's scent, Raven wracked her brain to try and remember another way of tracking. Then, it hit her. Admittedly the method was a bit unconventional, but it should work.

Following the elder cats' words about how the Bad Feeling will not only warn of danger, but will often tell the cat where to go and what to do to be safe, Raven cleared her mind of cluttering thoughts and worries. Acting on pure instinct the pitch black she-cat stood up and bounded towards the Uchiha district.

As she drew closer to the place where her human should be, the Bad Feeling that told all animals to avoid the place welled up inside her, causing her to come to a screeching halt. The feeling of evil and imminent doom was stronger than ever. It wasn't the demon that resided within the compound that scared her. If animals were scared by demons then they'd avoid Naruto rather than crowding around him like they were wont to do.

The people there were the ones that radiated the evil. Their blood was tainted by something other than the blood of a demon, which wasn't really a taint seeing as how most clans graced with a kekkei genkai or with clan jutsus could trace their lineage back to some demon or another. No, instead it was the taint of a curse upon the whole line, one that would be almost impossible to break. It warned off those who knew, by experience or instinct, to look for it. It also served other purposes, but what Raven did not have the fortune of knowing.

All traces of the Bad Feeling telling her to avoid the Uchihas like they were the bearers of some plague or another fled when a dark, angry energy started radiating from the center of the accursed place. To most it would've been a mystery as to whom it belonged to, but by some fluke or another Raven was able to pinpoint the owner.

It was her human. This was what the Bad Feeling had warned of.

Panic overriding her normally calm and calculating mind, Raven sprinted towards the compound. Distantly she felt her body jump onto the roof of one of the buildings and stare at the pole that rose high above the rest of the compound and the figure that graced its peak. The feelings of other energy signatures stirring in response to the demonic energy radiating from her human was felt but not noted. Mainly the first to react were the Uchihas themselves, wild animals, feral animals, and nin-animals. Domestic animals were the last to react. All but the highest level of humans and any jinchuuriki in the area were clueless as to the fact that something was wrong beyond the unusual actions of the animals.

Dread filled Raven's heart as she saw the figure straighten, making her chest feel a thousand times its normal weight. She knew that whatever this thing was that had taken over her human would not harm her, for it had a specific target in mind, but she feared for her human. He might never wake up if something wasn't done.

Knowing there was nothing a mere cat could do to help she turned around and ran to find the only one in her mind that might stand a chance. The container of the Demon Fox Crown Princess. Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

Naruto shot up on of bed, drenched in a cold sweat. He was fairly certain that he hadn't been having one of his usual dreams, so why was he so terrified.

The blonde felt a wave of nausea overcome him as the demonic energy washed over Konoha. Something vile within him stirred in response.

All thoughts of what could be going on were interrupted when Raven barreled into the apartment, yowling. Her siblings and mother, who had been pacing restlessly, scattered.

"Trouble! Badbadbadbad! Troubletroubletrouble! Needhelpneedhelpneedhelp!" she screeched, panicked.

"Raven! Calm down!" Naruto cried, knowing instinctually that her frantic state of mid had something to do with this ominous feeling of encroaching doom. His mind scrambled for possible explanations, but he couldn't focus beyond the point that Itachi was out there and in danger.

The she-cat took a deep breath, her wild eyes calming slightly. "Human in trouble! Big bad thing! Bad Place! Human in Bad Place!" she screamed once she'd stilled her rapidly beating heart by a small amount.

Naruto's heart stopped. All his senses were blocked off suddenly, and he felt as if he was wrapped in a cocoon. As unexpectedly as his heart had stilled, it start back up again, and his senses came flooding back to him a thousand fold. Not a second had passed since Raven's announcement. Naruto struggled against the rising panic, knowing it would only impede him.

Despite his panicked state, Naruto still managed to retain a sense of rationality. Maybe it was his training as a shinobi, or instincts inherited from the Kyuubi no Kitsune, those having been ingrained into her psyche. Whatever the cause, Naruto rushed and start packing clothing for himself and Itachi along with enough dried food to last them a while. The blonde was thankful that Itachi had insisted on stocking the apartment with emergency supplies that didn't need to be heated in order to be consumed.

Forsaking the instant ramen, for it would be hard to prepare while on the run, Naruto grabbed all of the money he'd saved up and pocketed it, concealing the meager amount in an inside pocket of the jacket Itachi had brought him.

The blonde didn't know what instinct told him that Itachi at the least wouldn't be able to return to Konoha after this. It might not have even been an instinct, and instead some vestige of the fox's cleverness taking over his brain as he internally had a panic attack. No matter what, though, Naruto knew that if Itachi was leaving, so was he.

Ignoring the killer intent radiating from the compound, Naruto sprinted towards the Uchiha district. His survival instincts were overridden by his desire to protect his pack. Pack came first.

Sensing Raven running after him, Naruto yelled out to her, "Don't come! I'll be fine! Take Kitsune, Fire, Shadow, and Crimson and run! Me and Itachi will meet you in Niimijin. Crimson should know where that is." Not bothering to see if the cat listened to him, Naruto kept running.

Raven huffed and turned around. She'd been planning to do that all along, duh. She just wanted to see if her sister's human was alright was all, and she was the fastest runner other than Fire in their family, and Fire couldn't run for long distances.

Naruto paused on the outskirts of the main cluster of houses. Not even the faintest of breezes blew, as if the sky itself was holding its breath in fear. The silence hung so think in the air that it made Naruto feel choked, his skin paling and his breath coming in ragged pants.

Forcing his petrified limbs to move, Naruto sprinted towards the center of the compound, where the last traces of chakra and yoki still lingered. The household of the clan head.

**

* * *

**

_He danced between falling drops of blood, claws flashing in the moonlight as if they were poison tipped daggers. People were screaming, their fear scent permeating the air._

Itachi stared at the bodies of his parents, the shadows that he'd been born in clinging to his skin and concealing him from even the most prying of eyes. He felt as if he was caught in the middle of some nightmare, time suspended. Past and present blended together in his mind, the line dividing fact from fiction blurring, the colors all blending into a plethora of one.

_A smile.__A laugh.__ A certain shine in normally dull eyes. __Hair the color of the sun.__Itachi felt the ice around his heart soften as it began to warm up, on the brink of melting. Something caused it to remain frozen, though. He would soon be separated from the sun. It was possibly the worst day of his life. Itachi's only comfort was that he'd be allowed to see Naruto about once a __month, between missions. __If he ever got a long term mission, though.__he__ would be away from the light for longer. When he returned the sun might have gone out. That was the only thing he truly feared._

Itachi's brain felt as if it were about to explode. Thoughts and emotions all crowded in, demanding to be paid attention to. A vile, evil feeling rose up in his chest. It was the feeling of something once beautiful that had been tainted. A sun that had turned into a black hole.

_Children ran playing. They were smiling and laughing. Their parents were nearby, watching over them. The world was at peace. Itachi watched from afar. He was not allowed to join the children, even though he was their age. He had to train. He hadn't mastered the art of killing just yet, after all._

Itachi felt dizzy as memories flooded his mind. His mental barriers had shattered. The emotions he'd long kept bottled up, only daring to let the least harmful out in the presence of his most precious person, exploded.

_The children that just yesterday had been laughing, happy with their lives, were now screaming and terrified. The parents that just yesterday had guarded their children, or performed missions for the sake of their family and friends, raised their weapons one last time in a valiant act of defiance against the one they all hated just because he'd gotten unlucky when he was born. The shinobi that no longer had the innocent eyes of children, yet could not be counted as adults, charged him. __Six years ago they'd been his classmates. Three years ago they'd been his teammates. Now they were his enemies, as they'd always been a heart._

Itachi could sense other presences as they drew closer, and knew his end was near. The demon could go on fighting for a century, but his human body and his human mind and his human emotions were at their limit. No matter how long the demon could fight, Itachi could go no farther.

_A child smiled at him. It wasn't one of those polite smiles you gave to strangers, or one of those bright smiles you give everyone you meet when you're in a good mood. It was a special __smile, that__ told Itachi _he_, not some parent, not some silly crush, was the center of this child's world. It was Naruto's seventh birthday, and Itachi had come to visit._

Regret. A new emotion. Itachi had felt hatred towards his clan and village, joy with Naruto, sorrow at the blonde's life and to some extent his own, fear when he found out about the demon held within him, maybe even excitement when he was a small child, but never had he felt regret. Shinobi do not feel regret.

Naruto. Itachi regretted leaving Naruto alone again. The villagers would likely blame the blonde for the massacre, even knowing it was not the Kyuubi no Kitsune that had killed the Uchiha. Maybe he should turn himself in so that he could at the least try to insure the boy's safety.

Itachi looked up suddenly when a chakra signature, threaded with a hint of yoki, barreled towards the room in which he stood. It was neither an ANBU nor jounin that had found him first, nor even his younger brother, Sasuke, whom Itachi had briefly noted was not in the compound at the time of the others' deaths, instead having stayed late at the Academy to train.

Itachi felt fear for the second time in his life as the door opened, praying he'd mistaken the chakra signature. No such luck. Naruto ran full speed into the room, pausing in front of the two bodies sprawled on the floor and staring into the shadows where Itachi was hidden.

The raven stepped into the faint light shinning through the window, his features changed partially by the demonic energy that had flowed through his veins. His eyes had morphed from an absolute black to an extremely dark purple. Pure black pupils barely contrasted with the almost black irises, but still stood out. They were slits, like those of a raven. His hair had gone through the same color change. Strands of deep purple shone in the moonlight.

Itachi's skin was far paler than it had been previously, almost vampiric in nature. His facial features were more feminine, and Naruto could easily guess from the way he stood that his skeletal structure had also been altered, although he could not see much more than Itachi's face.

With the way the moon shone on him, and the way his fingers, no longer bearing claws, were dipped ever so lightly in blood, made Itachi look deadly and angelic at the same time. Literally an angel of death.

"Achi-chan, we've gotta leave," Naruto said, daring to break the oppressive silence. "I don't want you to die, and ANBU are on their way."

Itachi stared at Naruto, his emotions conflicting. The blonde's presence would surely be noticed if they didn't leave now. But him being there could simply be explained as his concern for Itachi. People would immediately jump to the conclusion that the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune had been the cause of this if her container vanished on the same night one of the two most powerful clans in Konoha was massacred.

"Let's go," he said finally, knowing that Naruto would object to being left behind. He'd seen the pack Naruto had carried with him, and hoped that the blonde had packed the necessary supplies. The duo couldn't linger in Konoha any longer, and wouldn't be able to retrieve food and clothing beyond what they already had with them.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, grinning. If it ever occurred to him that he was leaving behind his old life, that he'd be hunted by ANBU and hunter-nins alike until their existence was forgotten, Konoha fell into ruin, their names were cleared, or they died, he shoved the concern out of his mind. Such things did not matter, now. They could become powerful and fight off the hunter-nins. It would be easy. It had been done before, after all. Naruto wasn't new to a life lived in constant fear that the next day would be his last, after all. It had been that way all of his life.

Itachi gently settled the blonde onto his back, nodding as Naruto directed him towards Niimijin. He'd never heard of the place, and guessed correctly it was another piece of information Naruto had found out on the streets.

Remembering the scroll room, Itachi went there first. He knew it would take a while for the ANBU to find the place, even though a gaping hole led straight to it. Gathering all of the scrolls and papers dealing with the Uchiha clan business and history took almost to time at all, since they were so close to each other.

All of the scrolls he'd gathered sealed into a single scroll meant specifically for this purpose, Itachi ran along the corridors in the direction Naruto had indicated. He knew that the chakra absorbing properties of the walls would prevent any pursuers from tracking him.

**

* * *

**

The Hokage sighed and sat back in his chair. The Uchiha clan had been massacred by a demonic but unknown energy signature. He squashed all complaints about how Naruto was the only one in the village with access to a demon's powers by pointing out that the attack might have come from outside Konoha.

Another mystery. Naruto was missing, and neither the body nor the chakra signature of Uchiha Itachi could be located. Even if Itachi's body had been incinerated, some trace would've been left behind. It was possible that Itachi had fled Konoha when the demon attacked, which would've been a smart move particularly if he knew it was after the Uchihas in particular, and might've taken Naruto with him as a safeguard against the blame falling on the child. It was all speculation, though.

"Declare to the villagers what had happened. It is to be made clear that the identity of the demon that killed off the Uchiha clan is not the Kyuubi, and is as of now unknown. Uchiha Itachi and Uzumaki Naruto are to be reported missing, their status and whether or not they're actually alive is unknown. Uchiha Sasuke will be under guard by ANBU until further notice," Sarutobi Hogosha ordered, his face serious. The ANBU saluted him and shunshin'ed away.

**

* * *

**

Within a week the villagers had come up with their own version of what had happened, even though jumping to conclusions wasn't that bright of an idea. To them the connection between the two demon attacks was obvious. The Uchiha clan.

Because both demons had either targeted the clan specifically, or an area where it was located, they assumed that demons must have something against the Uchiha clan. The disappearance of Itachi was either because he had run from the demon or had been obliterated. Naruto disappeared because the demon that killed the Uchiha clan took him with it, clearly wanting to protect another of its vile kind.

A very distinct result arose of their conclusions: Sasuke's ANBU guards actually were useful. As the Sandaime had predicted the villagers quickly noticed the connection between the two attacks and the Uchiha clan. They all assumed that since there was still one Uchiha left in Konoha, they still might be in danger of attack. Sasuke was hated just as much, if not more than, Naruto had been.

* * *

Sasuke sat on the roof of his apartment, staring at the setting sun. He'd been given the apartment Naruto had vacated when the Uchiha massacre occurred. The landlord figured that rather than have two apartments be tainted by the presence of scum, they could share.

It had been a month since his family died and his aniki went missing. Sasuke was still confused as to what had happened. He had an instinctual feeling that the villagers were dead wrong, and that there was something more behind the massacre other than pissing off a bunch of demons.

Whatever had happened, Sasuke knew he had to find his brother. There was no way Itachi-nii could be dead, and he was certain to know why the Uchiha clan had been killed off. Why else would he have fled and left Sasuke behind?

Sasuke also didn't believe that the demon had taken Naruto with it. Naruto had certainly gone with Itachi. As much as it pained him to admit it, the blonde held a dearer place in Itachi's heart than even Sasuke. Sasuke hated the boy for that, for stealing his brother, but he was also thankful. Naruto had gotten close to Itachi in a way he had never been able to, making the raven capable of joy and happiness.

Sasuke didn't care that the villagers hated him. He didn't give a damn about whether or not they all died. All that mattered was Itachi. He needed answers more than he needed acceptance. And who knows, he might find true acceptance in the same place he was sure to find answers.

Sasuke smiled at the orange hues of the sunset, as the last light faded and blue-black replaced the orange in the view of the world. One day he'd be the blue-black, replacing the orange Naruto in the eyes of Itachi. Nobody stole his brother and got away with it.

* * *

Hinata looked at the picture she gripped in her hands. She'd found it in Naruto's old apartment. It was really half a picture. Sasuke had kept the other half.

In her half a seven year old Naruto beamed at the camera. It was his seventh birthday. The blonde was holding an orange kitten in a death grip, a kitten with a coat of flames and a deep red mother cat sitting at his feet. She knew that in the other half was an actually smiling Itachi, with a pure black kitten perched on his shoulder. She was hissing at a gray kitten that looked like he was about to pounce up to her perch.

Hinata could still see where Itachi had set his hand on Naruto's hair, ruffling it. The raven had crouched down next to the seven year old, so that their faces were within a food of each other. Sasuke had carefully cut out any traces of Naruto from his half, so Hinata had the entire part that included Naruto.

The Hyuuga heiress sighed as she gently returned the picture frame to its hiding place. It had been a month since Naruto, the happy cheerful blonde that she'd come to admire, had disappeared. Her father was pushing her harder than ever to train, threatening to remove her from the position of heiress if she failed to be good enough. Hinata briefly contemplated failing on purpose, maybe even enough to be completely disowned, just so that she could get away from the political life. It wasn't an option, though. Naruto would be disappointed that she'd taken the easy way out.

Her resolve reinforced, Hinata changed into her training outfit and headed outside to practice the traditional Hyuuga fighting style. Her current skill level was nowhere near good enough to beat Hanabi, let alone her father, in one on one combat.

**

* * *

**

Shadow ran through the streets of the Demon District of Niimijin. It was known as such because of the high amount of traffic from high-end S-rank criminals, SS-rank criminals, jinchuuriki, U-ranked criminals, hanyous, and even actual demons. His destination was a bar owned by an ancient fox demon. Apparently traveling with the jinchuuriki of the Crown Princess of Demon Foxes had some advantage to it.

Slipping in the door, Shadow slunk to the back of the main room. One of the waitresses, a daughter of an S-rank criminal who was waiting for her father's monthly visit, let him into the back room. All the workers there had learned to recognize Shadow and his siblings on sight.

Shadow was greeted quite enthusiastically by his older sister, Kitsune. She was just as hyper as her human!

"Let go!" he hissed at her. "I have some important news!"

She let go of him, pouting. "You could at the least play with me! I'm SOOO bored!"

Shadow rolled his eyes at his sister's immaturity. It was amazing how she could be so kittenish and yet still be the best fighter in the district. "Trust me," he told her. "You'll want to hear this."

Her ears perked up, an interested look shining in hers eyes. She quickly led the way to where Naruto and Itachi were. They'd apparently gone to train. The two cats darted into the hallway that would lead them towards the Underground, which contained over half of Niimijin's population and was as large as the city itself. This was where Naruto, Itachi, and the five cats all lived.

They barreled into the training grounds. Only Itachi and Naruto were there, the three cats likely off doing their own thing. The two jinchuuriki immediately ceased training once they felt Shadow and Kitsune enter the area.

Shadow had gone on a reconnaissance mission to Konoha, to find out what the situation was in regards to Itachi and Naruto. If he was back, that meant that he'd found out all there was to know. Raven showed up just after her two siblings did, somehow knowing that Shadow had returned. The only male in his litter couldn't even begin to guess how she always knew these things.

"I have really really big news!" Shadow announced. He knew that what he'd found out would have a huge impact on Itachi and Naruto's future decisions.

One thing could be said about Naruto and Itachi. They acted fast. Within five minutes Crimson and Fire had been located, and the five cats and two humans were all gathered in Itachi and Naruto's room at the Trickster's Inn. The two had gotten so used to Naruto falling asleep with Itachi whenever the raven stayed over that it didn't occur to them to get separate rooms.

"Well, what's the news?" Naruto asked, bouncing up and down on the bed. He was as impatient as ever.

"You're all going to have a hard time believing this, but Konoha doesn't realize it was Itachi that killed the clan!" Shadow announced. Seeing his audience's incredulous looks, he elaborated. "Itachi's chakra signature was so changed by the demon that it was unrecognizable, and it also hid Naruto's signature. Everyone thinks that the two of you are either dead or ran away from the demon. They also think that both Kyuubis attacked 'cause they wanted the Uchihas dead, so they don't like Sasuke much anymore."

Itachi frowned when he heard that Sasuke was disliked, if not hated, by Konoha. He hadn't thought of that possibility. He hoped his little brother wasn't too sad, and that he could eventually make it up to him.

"Well, that changes everything. We're still not returning to Konoha, though," Itachi said. Naruto and the cats nodded their agreement. "Now the only problems we have to worry about are Akatsuki, anyone else hunting jinchuuriki, and any enemies that we personally manage to gain."

Naruto grinned. "We'll so kick their asses!" he exclaimed, punching the air. His only worry about leaving was that he might have to fight Hinata-chan, Sasuke-kun, Hokage-jiji, and Iruka-sensei, but since Konoha wasn't after them then that wasn't a problem! "It should be easy enough to bring all or most of the jinchuuriki together against the Akatsuki, since me and Achi-chan can't hide among them." Itachi had already explained that the best way to avoid the Akatsuki would be to join them, especially since now only Naruto and the cats knew Itachi was a jinchuuriki, but that was impossible since it was common knowledge that Naruto was a jinchuuriki.

Itachi smiled faintly at Naruto. Count on the blonde to act like a loud mouthed idiot one second and have an extremely brilliant idea the next. "Great idea, Naru-chan. We could also gather hanyous and regular humans, too," Itachi said.

Naruto's grin grew even wider at the praise, almost splitting his face in half. Itachi's idea was awesome, too.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. "What about Sasuke? The villagers can be really mean when they don't like someone," he said, not wishing his life on anyone else.

Itachi appeared thoughtful for a moment. "When the time comes we'll journey to Konoha, and if he wishes to come, take him and anybody else who wants to follow with us," Itachi said hesitantly. They had room, naturally. Both their demons were widely respected, and so both jinchuuriki had access to a deep well of favors. Also both demons were filthy rich and had quite an inheritance. Itachi's only issue, therefore, with more company was the he was _not_ a people person.

It had nothing to do with the fact that other humans from his hometown, especially his brother or any females, might make Naruto care less for him. Nope. Nothing to do with that at all.

Hearing the blonde yawn, Itachi realized how late it was. He somehow managed to convince Naruto to go to bed while he stayed up. It was definite proof that the eight year old was exhausted. They'd been training their jinchuuriki powers lately, although Naruto was having a tremendous amount of difficulty due to the design of the seal. Apparently he wasn't supposed to be able to access the yoki until he was at the least ten, if not twelve or older.

Tucking Naruto in, Itachi smiled at the peaceful expression on Naruto's face. Give it a couple of years and the boy would be a real beauty. Double the reason why Itachi shouldn't let anyone within a hundred feet of _his _sun.

Straightening, Itachi turned towards the door and walked out. He had an appointment with a seal expert to keep. Naruto's seal was the best quality there was that could be applied by someone other than the jinchuuriki him or herself. Itachi's seal, though, was lacking. It was solely designed to allow the wearer full access to the demon's power with no regards whatsoever to the mental or physical health of the jinchuuriki. It also had a built in 'override' command, similar to the Hyuuga clan's caged bird seal. Whoever knew the right jutsu would be able to subdue or kill him in an instant.

The seal master had been suggested by the barkeep himself, although he himself had never had any use for a seal and so had never used the seal maker's services. Itachi finally came to a halt in the Market District of the Underground. He hesitated briefly before entering the shop of Karasuhebi (black snake) Kuromidori, one of the last of the old blood snake demons.

* * *

**I hope Shadow's explanation cleared up what the hell was going on...**

**BTW, should I put _hints_ of one sided ItaSasu (Sasuke obsessing over Itachi), or dum it down so that it's only a brotherly thing? I hate the pairing ItaSasu, so they'd never come within a million miles of being together. The only reason for the hints would be to advance the plot and give Sasuke a motive to try to screw with Itachi and Naruto's relationship (and get smacked down). If my readers are completely and utterly against any hints of incest, though, they can be not included.**

**Once again, nobody other than Itachi's going to be paired with Naru-chan. NaruHina will not happen. I might put in one-sided NaruHina, but that would serve the same purpose as it does in the manga: motivation for Hinata to improve herself, and to help Naruto.**

**Translations:**

**Kuromidori- blackish green**

**shunshin- a jutsu used to move really really fast from one place to another. Not to be confused with Hirashin**

**Karasuhebi- black snake**

**Please review! It's really easy! You just have to click that \/ little blue button and type a few words! Constructive critisism is coveted. If you don't have an account I accept annonymous reviews. If you wish to flame me please leave a way for me to contact you so that I can flame you back. Have a nice day!**


	6. Nightmare, A Fatal Flaw

**Here's the sixth chapter of Path of the Not So Righteous Warrior!**

**Warning: yaoi. ItaNaru. slight blood and gore**

**Ty everyone for reviewing! You all make me feel so loved! **

**Please review! Reviews make me feel so appreciated! Constructive critisism (telling me what you think is wrong) is welcome! Flames (telling me that I suck without explaining why or telling me that my tastes are wrong because you don't agree with me, or being a hypocrite) will be ignored.**

**Hmm... Anything I'm forgetting?**

* * *

_Screams resonated, cowing the already frightened inhabitants of the underground room into a deathly silence. They all prayed to whatever deity they followed that they might make it alive through the night. The Gods and Goddesses seemed to be busy elsewhere that night, though._

_Thump. Thump. Thump. The silence was shattered by the measured footsteps of soldiers, although these had a hurried air to them. Thump. Thump. Thump._

_Not a single one of the people hidden in the dark room even dared to breathe. Even the smallest child there, a kitten the demonic equivalent of a human two year old, knew that to make a sound, to let the enemy know they were there, meant certain death._

_Shadows cannot lurk forever, though, and even the smallest bug, hidden in the farthest reaches of time and space though it might be, will someday be found by another. This was common sense. A young kit, no older than five demon life-span years, knew this well. She'd tried to hide before, from the cruelty of the other __children, from her abusive father, from the harsh reality of life itself. She was always found._

_Grabbing the hands of two of her remaining four precious people, the fifth having fallen in battle right before her eyes not even an hour ago, she edged towards the far wall of the room. The two other children followed silently. They all excelled in the art of stealth, and did not give away any sign of their __presence__ to listening ears._

_The little girl knew that she would not be able to insure the safety of her mother, the third of her precious people, for the elegant fox demon stood on the other side of the room, and the little girl would have to go through many others to reach her, certainly making a sound and damning them all._

_Reaching the wall, the little fox girl gently lifted the edge of a rough piece of cloth. She'd put this in here herself, to create the perfect hiding place. It blended perfectly with the wall, and had the texture of the surrounding stone. It would also be as hard as a rock to anyone else than she, her two closest friends, or her aniki. Slipping into the hollowed out alcove behind the cloth, her two friends following suit, she gently placed the cover back in place._

_The heavy wooden box covering the entrance to the main room shifted, the sound like thunder right next to their ears in the oppressive silence even though a thick door, designed like the walls around it to block sound and energy signatures. The enemy had found their hiding place._

_The red headed fox girl peered through a peep hole in her super secret hiding place. She was comforted slightly by the fact that only someone within the alcove would be able to see it, but that was overridden seeing as how her mother and the family of her two friends had not bothered to hide. Their figures were barely outlined by the slight hint of ethereal light shinning through the crack in the door._

_With a groan the door shifted. It was not designed to be forced open like this. One was supposed to either use a jutsu to open the door, or in the case of an emergency such s this have someone open it from the inside. If that occurred both the box blocking the entrance and the door would silently and swiftly move out of the way, closing when __whomever__ wished to enter had done such._

_The fox girl was certain that her hiding place would be revealed, her heart was beating so fast. __With a crack the door was forced off its hinges and enemy soldiers entered the room._

_The people standing about were soon surrounded by the demons, dragons, and even one elf that made up the enemy forces. Once all of the people had been gathered into groups the leader of this particular group of soldiers entered. She could tell from how he stood that he thought this job of securing civilians to be beneath him. The fox girl also had the feeling that she'd seen him somewhere before._

_"Kill the men, any children under eight years of age, and any of them older than thirty. Take the rest to the Commander," he ordered, his voice conveying even better than his posture his annoyance and little tolerance for any and all holdups._

_The little girl gripped her friends' hands tighter as blades flashed and people screamed__ squeezing her eyes shut briefly. She had the gut feeling that if she ever relinquished her hold upon her two friends then she'd never see them again. She had no clue at the time how right she was._

_"Stop this madness!" a high, clear voice rang out. The little girl's eyes popped open. The voice was that of her mother._

_"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the evil demon snarled, pissed at the interruption. __"A petty little Old Blood fox?"__ His eyes narrowed, and his fist lashed out. The valiant vixen, who'd dared stand up to the tyrant when everyone else cowered in fear, went sprawling back. "The time of your kind is over! The Old Bloods no longer hold any royal seat. You are no more than a pathetic seamstress, set to work for your conquerors, the New Bloods, after your grandparents' reign ended! Do not speak so bluntly to me! You will pay the price." At this point he grinned insanely._

_The fox girl now recognized where she'd seen him before. She could never__ forget that smile, leering at all that stood beneath him. He was the nephew of the Crown Prince of the Snake Demons. They, like the current rulers of the fox demons, were of the New Blood._

_Knowing the power of the Old Blood demons, even though the one had obviously never trained in the fighting arts, the snake demon commanded two soldiers to grab the fox girl's mother. __The little kit watched, knowing that despite her rising rage there was nothing she could do to help her mother._

_The execution that the vixen had halted recommenced, the blade falling on the father of her very first friend, the tanuki girl that stood to the right of the fox girl. The tanuki girl's elderly mother was also slain. Her two surviving grandparents also felt the bite of the blade, along with several of her siblings. Next to be slain was the wizened grandmother of the snow cat girl that stood to the fox girl's left. The old lady, a gypsy girl in her prime, had been the snow tigress's only family._

_The bodies fell to the floor with a dull thunk, blood splattering everywhere and seeping from underneath them, staining the walls and floor. The fox girl squeezed her friends' hands again, sensing them shiver. They knew what had happened. She had to bite back a scream of fear and outrage. Fear that she would be discovered and meet the same fate, and outrage that they dare do this._

_The remaining people, consisting of the three siblings of the tanuki girl old enough to escape the blade and several others were all dragged or lead out. The fox girl's mother was kept __where she stood, though. She had not been punished properly for misbehaving yet._

_The fox girl's eyes widened in horror as the evil snake man and his higher end subordinates started 'punishing' her mother. The small kit squeezed her eyes shut, the agonized screams of her mother, as the pain became too much to bear, resounding in her ears and imprinting themselves on her brain. It took all of her will power to not break down crying and screaming right then and there. Clinging to her last shred of a hint of hope, the child prayed to any god or goddess that might be listening that this was all some kind of horrid nightmare, that she might in the morning wake up in her bed to return to the life that she'd previously hated, and now saw as a far away dream._

**

* * *

**

Naruto landed on the floor with a thud, having thrashed around so much in the throes of his nightmare that he'd fallen out of bed. It took him several minutes to reorganize his thoughts and calm himself. The nightmare had felt too real, almost as if it wasn't even a dream but a real experience. There was also no reason for him to be dreaming of such things. He had not known a single one of the people in the dream.

Looking around, the blonde realized that Itachi wasn't there. Naruto's heart was gripped with fear, both from being alone in the dark, claustrophobia inducing room and the remnants of the dream he'd just had. He curled up in a ball right where he sat on the floor, face pale as he shook. The feeling that had overtaken the whole thought process of the girl that had been its focus had rattled him immensely. The feeling of losing someone precious and of fearing their imminent and unavoidable doom. It felt foreboding.

Naruto stared into the blackness that surrounded him like a smothering blanket, choking off his air supply as he descended into a state of panic carried over from the distant past. Even the thought that the night would someday end did not comfort him. It did not matter if the sun rose if there was no earth to view and comfort it.

Hoping, praying, that not a single one of his few friends were hurt, Naruto stared at the door, crying silently for the girl in the dream, for her friends and family forever lost, and for the fear of being left alone once more, no matter how irrational the reason of his sudden terror.

**

* * *

**

(a few hours earlier)

The door to the small shop opened silently, not even the usual bell or faint pulse of chakra, yoki, or some other form of energy revealing the arrival of a new customer. Itachi stepped into the dimly lit room, eyes scanning for any sign of danger. Instincts sharpened by his recent close proximity with the demon warned him to be wary of any and all snakes.

A figure detached from the shadows which had previously cloaked him, the light shinning fully on his face. Kuromidori looked young, no older than 25. His skin was a very light tan, rather than the sickly pale shade that was common for his kind. The markings around his eyes were almost identical to Orochimaru's in design, but were far more complex, being the markings of a snake demon rather than a snake jinchuuriki.

Another difference was that where Orochimaru's markings were purple, indicating the shade of his demon's yoki, Kuromidori's markings were a darkish green, matching his name. Most snake demons had yoki of a blue, red, or purple shade. His hair was an even darker green, almost black. His eyes were a burnt gold, tinted lightly with brown and red. The snake demon wore his hair cut short, falling to the tops of his ears, which was uncommon for snakes, who preferred to wear their hair longer. He also wore a dark brown knit cap, even though it was quite warm out.

Kuromidori's style of dress was the most usual thing about him. He wore a simple fighter's outfit, designed to allow for freedom of movement and to provide protection against several types of attacks at the same time. Leather was predominant in his outfit. It was surprisingly plain for a snake demon's outfit, not containing anything flamboyant or pompous, instead focusing purely on practicality.

"Hello, Karasuhebi-san," Itachi greeted. The seal master didn't seem to be particularly inclined to start the conversation, and Itachi had no wish to be standing there all night.

"Hello Uchiha-san," Kuromidori replied, eyes wary. He obviously didn't trust Itachi. "I assume you're here about your seal?"

Itachi nodded slightly. "Hai. It gives no provision for my own safety, and does nothing to regulate the demon's yoki," he said.

Kuromidori nodded. "Depending on her mood, fixing the seal binding the Kyuubi no Tengu will be difficult or nearly impossible," he said, mind racing through various methods of sealing. "The best way would probably be to bind her yoki to a set path with your body, making it so that you can access it at will but if she tries to force her way out or if someone tries to remove her from you it will either kill both you and her or will simply not work. This methods fairly basic, but unless you want to merge with her either completely or partially, or you want to completely alter the composition of your body so that it can deal with her yoki on its own, is the best option."

"Care to elaborate?" Itachi asked. He didn't trust the seal master at all, and new enough about seals so that he'd probably be able to determine if the snake was planning on doing something dangerous to him.

"It's understandable that you don't trust me. The others of my species haven't exactly gone out of their way to give snake demons a good image," Kuromidori said, shrugging off Itachi's mistrust of his motives. "The process of binding her yoki to a certain path is pretty much the same as using wires to control an electrical current. Rather than allowing all that electricity to float freely in the air, it is contained and directed so that it's useful to whoever owns the wires, and unless the insulation covering the metal is broken, the electricity won't be able to shock anyone."

Itachi 'hn'ed, his tone conveying that he understood. It made sense so far, and he'd heard of this method of sealing before. Apparently it was almost impossible for a human to perform, requiring massive amounts of energy to complete, and if it wasn't done correctly or the jutsu wasn't finished the results could be disastrous.

"The fact that you've already partially merged with her," Kuromidori began, referring to Itachi's tengu-like features. "Makes it easier and less of a risk. You'll be able to use her yoki without screwing up your own chakra pathways almost instinctually, instead of having to train for hours on end."

Itachi 'hn'ed again. He watched with mild curiosity as Kuromidori walked about the room, pulling out various instruments for assisting in regulating the various forms of energy and for creating seals. The seal master clearly knew what he was doing.

"A friend of mine is also a jinchuuriki," Itachi said, getting bored and deciding to act on his desire to find out about Naruto's seal and what could be done with it. "I was wondering if you could look at his seal and fix it. At the moment it allows him next to no access to his demon's yoki."

Kuromidori glanced in his direction, before returning to sorting through the slightly disorganized room. "You're talking about the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, right?" he asked. When Itachi nodded in confirmation the snake demon continued. "The seal that the Yondaime Hokage put on him is one of the best possible. Even if a better seal could be implemented, it wouldn't be suggestible. The complex arrangement of seals that combined to form the seal binding the fox to Naruto would be difficult to untangle, and in doing such there would be a huge risk that she would break the seal while it was at its weakest and escape. The seal should allow him to access more of her yoki as time goes on. Currently his body is being fed small amounts of yoki to adapt him so that he can use more yoki."

Made sense. Itachi nodded. Naruto could wait a few years to use the demon's yoki.

Kuromidori wasn't finished yet, though. "One thing I can do is put a supplementary seal on him that will alter his body faster, allowing for the safe guards on the seal to remove themselves at a sooner date. He'd also be able to use her yoki at a far lesser risk to himself. It'd only be a partial merge, of course, since anything more would be dangerous, but in his situation it would probably be the best course of action. The Kyuubi's definitely not going to be in a good mood, but her personality over all is way better than the Kyuubi no Tengu's or many others of her generation. She'd headstrong, and protective of her precious people. She also enjoys playing tricks and has a wicked sense of humor. She's the last person I'd wanna piss off, though."

Itachi smirked slightly. As expected, the demon's personality sounded a lot like Naruto's when he didn't have something pressing on his mind. "Just so I know, what is the Kyuubi no Tengu's personality like?" he asked politely. The snake was acting contrary to his expectations, lacking the menacing aura of most snake demons. A white sheep in a flock of black sheep.

"She's stuck up, broody, selfish, never thinks about others, thinks she's the only unfortunate person in the world, and a bitch," Kuromidori said, gathering all of the things he'd collected so far and walking into a back room, motioning for Itachi to follow. "From what I can see, you're not at all like her. You're way more polite. She'd be challenging me left and right and bluntly stating her mistrust of me, all the while acting as if I was dust beneath her feet."

Huh. So apparently jinchuuriki didn't always take after their demons.

Kuromidori set the things he'd been carrying down on a table nearby the door, before turning to Itachi. "I'm going to need a bit of your blood, to act as a binding agent. It'll make the seal stronger."

Itachi nodded and held out his arm, pulling up the sleeve. He'd researched seals used to hold demons, and occasionally dragons, within jinchuuriki. Strengthening a seal without fail required the blood of the jinchuuriki, and almost always required the blood of the person applying the seal. Sometimes, if the sealer wasn't skilled enough, it might required the blood of a relative, although rarely their life, to strengthen or replace a seal.

The sealing process didn't seem to take all that long to Itachi, although that might have had something to do with the fact that he blacked out at some point. When he woke up he was much more aware of the demon's yoki, although it felt farther from his own chakra than it had previously. He also felt more energized and alert, and his vision was way sharper. He also could see colors that he hadn't previously been aware of.

"Interesting," Kuromidori said quietly. Itachi turned towards him, wondering what was 'interesting'. In reply, Kuromidori handed Itachi a mirror, and said, "Look at your eyes."

Itachi did so, his eyes widening slightly in shock. That… wasn't normal. His eyes had morphed to what seemed to be a form of the sharingan, albeit one Itachi was unfamiliar with. It would explain why he was seeing things strangely, though. The iris was a shade of red that he'd never seen before, or never been aware of existing. It was an extremely dark shade, similar to the color of clotted blood but not quite. There were three irregularities in the iris, though. All three were pitch black. One was in the shape of a sun, another was a crescent moon, and the third a star. The detail on them was amazing. The new sharingan also lacked a normal pupil, but Itachi suspected that the three black shapes might be a form of pupil.

"That's the demon version of the sharingan," Kuromidori said. Itachi nodded. He'd thought it might be that.

"What's the purpose of the three black figures?" Itachi asked, tilting the mirror slightly. His eyes had also grown larger in relation to his head, although he quickly discovered that he could partially close the eyelids to give his eyes the appearance of being normal sized. He was also having trouble moving his eyeballs freely in their sockets.

"Those are basically evolved pupils. Each is used in a different situation, and which pupil is in use can be changed using yoki," Kuromidori explained. He didn't really get why the demon sharingan was the way it was, but then again the Old Blood Raven demons had always been inclined towards eccentricities. He wouldn't be surprised if they'd altered their doujutsu to be that way on purpose. "Using the moon shaped one alters the composition of the eye to provide better night vision along with a better recognition of colors in low light, and also gives access to a the demon variant of Tsukiyomi, while the sun shaped one, which you're currently using, provides sharper vision and a wider range of colors during the daytime than a human eye, and is what the basic sharingan descends from. It also gives access t the Amaratsu. The star shaped one gives access to the Susano and the dimension altering jutsu, plus allows the user to tell which type of energy someone uses or is capable of using."

Itachi 'hn'ed, showing that he'd heard. "Is the eye able to distinguish between types of chakra?" he asked, setting the mirror down.

"Yes. It can tell which of the nine energy types someone is gathering, and also which of them a person is aligned towards. It isn't as advanced as the hawk demons' doujutsu in regards to energy types, though," Kuromidori explained. "You might want to turn off the sharingan soon. Having it activated for too long might tire you or your eyes out. Another thing, you can still use the regular sharingan, if only for appearances sake."

Itachi expanded his senses, locating the thread of yoki that was feeding to his eyes. Cutting it off, he felt dizzy as his vision blurred. A couple of seconds later it reset to his normal eyesight. Everything seemed to lack in detail now, and colors appeared muted. The world through a human's eyes was quite dull when compared to the extraordinary vision granted by the demon sharingan.

Before the conversation between jinchuuriki and snake demon could either continue or be officially ended, both felt a familiar yoki spike suddenly. Anyone else would've paid it no mind, being used to the demonic energy commonly used in the area, but both occupants of the sealing room new that particular yoki well, and its owner.

Itachi leapt to his feet, while Kuromidori rushed into the main room. Not bothering to ask why he was even concerned, Itachi led the seal master to the inn. Having someone experienced in the seals on jinchuuriki, who also knew the yoki patterns of the Kyuubi no Kitsune on hand wouldn't hurt, after all.

**

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Naruto dimly sensed a familiar chakra/ yoki signature growing closer. Barely more than a minute had passed since he awoke from his horrible nightmare.

The door flew open, letting light permeate the room, although it failed to reach Naruto, hidden in a corner as he was. Itachi ran into the room, instantly knowing where Naruto was huddled after his nightmare. Picking the boy up, Itachi sat on the bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, holding Naruto tightly. If anyone had hurt the boy, he'd hunt them and cut them into tiny pieces.

Naruto sniffled, grabbing onto Itachi's shirt. "You're n-not g-going to l-leave me, are you?" he asked, shaking.

"No, never," Itachi whispered, tilting Naruto's face up to look at him. "You're my sunshine. Without you I'd be all alone in the dark, and all life within me would wilt and whither away. I'll never leave you as long as I live, and even if I were to die my soul would cling to this world, watching over you."

Naruto sniffed again, hugging Itachi. "I-I had a r-really b-bad dr-dream. I was a g-girl, n-not me, and th-there were really m-mean people tr-trying to k-kill me," he sobbed out. "All her p-precious p-people either left her or d-died." Itachi could easily see that Naruto was distressed over something, more than was usual for his nightmares, and wondered at the exact content of his nightmare.

"Shh, shh, it's okay. I'm not going to die anytime soon. I'm to stubborn. Tell me what happened. I won't let the mean people get you," Itachi said, rocking Naruto slightly as he'd seen his mother do whenever Sasuke had a particularly horrid nightmare.

Kuromidori's eyes widened as Naruto explained the dream. It couldn't be… The seal was supposed to be too strong to allow that! Still… what Naruto described, it was like an excerpt from _that night,_ just from a different perspective than the snake's. Another thing was he _knew _those people Naruto described. Or, at the least, he had known them. All except the little girl, whose perspective the story was told from, were dead.

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_(flashback)_

_Fire.__ Everything was on fire. The frightened screams of civilians as they saw their deaths approach filled the air, adding on to the horror of the macabre scene displayed in front of him._

_Blood.__Blood everywhere.__ The hauntingly beautiful crimson liquid stained the streets and the walls, stained the clothes and weapons of one of the two left standing, stained the whole body of the other. Bodies lay scattered haphazardly about._

_A little girl was crying, crying about the injustice of it all as she stared at the bodies of her two closest friends, freshly slain. Her eyes rose slightly, and she started screaming, screaming in fear __and anger. Why? Why? Why had this happened to her? Why was _she_ the one who was betrayed by her most precious person? For that was who was standing over the bodies of her friends, his sword painted red with their blood._

_His face was wet. Trails of liquid fell slowly down his checks, meandering in their path before falling silently to the floor below. Was it raining? Or had he spilled more blood, and somehow gotten it on his face? He wouldn't be surprised. But, then, what was the feeling within him? __This heavy, choking feeling?__ It wasn't raining, and the blood on his face was all dry. He was crying. This wasn't supposed to have happened._

_Yoki signatures approached. He knew these. __His so called 'teammates'.__ Those evil bastards that actually enjoyed doing the leader's will. The boy, for that's what he was, no older than the demon equivalent of a thirteen year old. He was barely a teenager, and yet already far too familiar with the art of war._

_He couldn't kill her. The leader had ordered that all who were not under the leader's command, be they civilians, soldiers, or even travelers, were to be slain or rounded up and sent to the slave camps. He couldn't though. He couldn't kill her, and she __was too young to be __excepted__ by the leader as being allowed to live._

_They were coming closer. Making a split second decision, the snake demon used the illusionary aspect of his doujutsu on the girl, __giving her his message as best he could with his current prowess. Appearing right in front of her, he knocked her back, back away from danger. If he'd calculated his hit right, she should land in the river, to be carried away from here, away from this scene of carnage. Hopefully her demonic healing powers would ensure her survival. His whispered, "I'm sorry," followed her, compressing all of his emotions into two simple, complicated words. She heard him, even though she'd been panicked when he whispered it to her, and he'd been speaking softly._

_Turning away from where he'd thrown her, the snake demon faced his teammates just as they rounded the corner. One shouted for him to come on, that they were wasting time. The snake demon nodded and followed the four, hating the government that controlled his life more than ever. How he wished that he could just betray them, and join the foxes and their allies. But he couldn't. The foxes wouldn't accept that a snake wanted to help them, and he'd be killed if he tried to betray the snakes and their allies. Even though he hated the fact, __he needed to stay loyal to the leader. If only so he could eventually kill the bastard. That was his only reason to live for, nowadays._

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Watching as Itachi comforted the fox child, Kuromidori was loathe to interrupt them. He had to, though. This was a serious problem.

Clearing his throat, he drew the attention of both Itachi and Naruto. The two looked at him, Naruto's eyes widening in surprise. He hadn't seen the snake demon standing there earlier.

"That was no dream," Kuromidori said, his tone serious and grave. "It was a memory."

Itachi paled ever so slightly with the implications of that being a memory. The seal wasn't working properly. And Naruto wasn't old enough yet to handle the volatile yoki. He hugged Naruto tight against him, looking Kuromidori straight in the eye.

"What should we do?"

Kuromidori looked sadly at the two. A crack in the seal… Even if the Kyuubi no Kitsune had calmed down since her rampage, the yoki was still highly poisonous to Naruto. And, unless the original seal creator decided to show up, there was only one way to fix the seal.

"Such a complicated seal is almost impossible to fix," he began, choosing his words carefully. "But it can be done. The only problem is the process used to make the seal."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Naruto asked, feeling uneasy about the tone in the seal master's voice, and the look in his eye.

"The seal has a hereditary flaw. The Yondaime Hokage, although closely related enough to Naruto to provide the link to him, isn't closely related enough to the fox to complete the link. When sealing such a powerful demon, the only way to insure success is if the sacrifice is related to both jinchuuriki and demon. In order to fix the seal, we'll need the help of a close relative of the fox's. If the seal isn't fixed, and soon, the yoki leak will either badly harm, screw up the mentality of, or even kill Naruto," Kuromidori explained. "There's also one or two more requirements, but those shouldn't be nearly as hard to obtain."

"What's the problem with the relative of the Kyuubi part of the deal?" Itachi asked, wary.

"Because, she only has two relatives that might still be alive. And neither has been seen or heard from in three hundred years."

* * *

**Note: Kuromidori's not an evil snake. He's unusual for his species. He isn't plotting to kill Naruto and Itachi, and actually wishes to help Naruto because he feels he owes the Kyuubi no Kitsune.**

**Just so none of you are confused about the two flashbacks: Basically what is happening is the snake demons and their allies are betraying the fox demons and their allies. They were at peace at the moment, a peace treaty having ended many milenia of war between them. The new leader of the snake demons decided to break the peace treaty and destroy the foxes and most of their allies. The Kyuubi no Kitsune is the demon equivalent of six, and Kuromidori the demon equivalent of thirteen.**

**Another thing: I didn't put how old they were in human years, because how quickly demons age varies from individual to individual, species to species, and will also slow and speed up depending on mind set, current age, enviroment, and several other factors.**

**Like my idea for the demon sharingan? I tried to base the sun and moon pupils on actual bird vision abilities, although the sun vision pupil is the most accurate for ravens. Basically when he uses one of the pupils whichever pupil he chooses to use expands, while the other two contract. Also yoki alters the interior of the eye, allowing for varying visionary arrangements.**

**Please review. Just six letters (u-p-d-a-t-e) is enough to make me overjoyed and get me on track to writting this faster. Constructive critisism is the best of all.**

**Ja ne!**


	7. Snow Day

**Here's the seventh chapter of Path of the Not So Righteous Warrior!**

**Warning: This is the ****ItaNaru**** version. Also I have completely thrown canonicity out the window. I have also decided to include onesided ItaSasu for plot purposes**

**Another thing: At the least one person expressed confusion about the tailed Tengu thing. The explanation for this is: ****when in demon form and humanoid form the Kyuubi no Tengu does not have 'nine tails'.**** I'm just using the whole tailed thing as a ranking system '****cause**** I'm too lazy too come up with my own and also look up the Japanese terms. Also I don't want to confuse readers by adding in a whole new ranking system. ****Hope that clears things up.**

**Also they are going to start gathering jinchuuriki and hanyous and such, but they aren't right now because of the whole crisis with Naruto's seal malfunctioning. If they meet any while they're traveling they'll try to recruit them, but they aren't going out of their way just yet.**

**Ty for all of the lovely reviews!!! You people make me feel so loved!**

**Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome as always, and flames will be ignored. If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them!**

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(Timeskip. 2 years later)

The Hokage, top ninja of Konoha, one of the five greatest shinobi countries of the world, was tired. It was just too much. One after the other, the dominoes fell, and his kingdom of cards collapsed into a jumbled up pile.

Why? Why now? Why ever, in fact? He was a peace loving man, and so were many of the villagers and ninja within Konoha, sans Danzou and a few of his followers. Most of the shinobi countries, and even the nonshinobi countries, were sick and tired of the constant wars they'd been slipping in and out of for the past sixty years. Now they were in the middle of another large war, which was liable to turn into the next Great Shinobi War if it continued the way it had been.

A year ago the Yondaime Mizukage had been assassinated, his only son taking his place. The Godaime Mizukage had spent half a year ensuring the loyalty, or at the least the terror of betraying their master, in his soldiers and hoarding supplies. Just six months ago he'd declared war on Umi no Kuni, Nami no Kuni, Tsuki no Kuniand Cha no Kuni swiftly winning and taking control of their land. From there he'd conquered several smaller countries and some cities within Hi no Kuni and Kaminari no Kuni. That was three months ago. It was also when an all out war had started.

Kaito, the current Mizukage and also the daimyo of Mizu no Kunihad somehow managed to ally with Ame no Kuni, Ta no Kuni, Kemurigakureand the Shitenshounin

The head Sarutobi was yanked out of his musings when an ANBU shunshin'ed into his office. Wondering what this could be about, he turned to face the masked ninja and motioned for him to speak.

"Hokage-sama," the ANBU said, his voice a dull monotone. "Two strangers, one of them the S-ranked missing ninja Momochi Zabuza-san, originally of Kirigakure no Sato, the other a girl with no allegiance other than Momochi-san called Haku, have arrived at the gate. They have made an odd request, and Inu-sama thought it imperative that they speak with you."

The Hokage nodded, telling the ANBU where Zabuza and Haku should meet with him. He then dismissed the ANBU, summoning others and giving them orders to guard the assigned room. Inu was one of the squad commanders, and his judgment in such matters was extremely accurate. Also they needed an advantage against the enemy forces, and one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu would be more than just valuable. The coup d'état had been recent, and not much could've changed since Zabuza's defection.

The Hokage turned and walked out of his office, strolling down the hallway. This could either be very, very good for he and his allies, or very, very bad. It all came down to chance.

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**

Snowflakes fell lightly, gently covering the surrounding landscape. Everything was frozen in time, a winter wonderland that almost seemed as if it would never go away. Horrors frozen forever and an eternity in the everlasting ice, preserved for years to terrify and haunt generations of people.

Haku knew not why he noticed these things. Maybe it was the snow that had fallen as his parents died, his mother by his father's hand and his father by Haku's own will. Maybe it was because it had snowed, just like it did now, when he realized exactly how horrid of a world he lived in. It could be that these thoughts, these pondering were because it had snowed when he first met Zabuza-sama, and when he swore to always fight for Zabuza-sama, and the two of them left the hell on earth called Kirigakure no Sato behind.

The delicate structures, made of nothing more than water so cold it turned solid, caught the light and, if one had enough imagination, an entire new world could be revealed, and no matter how vivid your imagination, an entire universe could be concealed and hidden from view. Haku took special notice of these things, because he was the master of ice, and because ice and snow had always been a part of him.

They stopped in front of the gate, waiting for the guards to notice them. Haku's trained eyes picked out the ANBU hidden around the place. Really, their hiding places were quite obvious. At the least, that's what Haku thought.

"Who're you?" one of the guards called out. Finally. Haku had been enjoying looking at the snow, but he had been getting bored.

"Momochi Zabuza and Haku," Haku called out. Zabuza-sama wasn't very friendly with strangers, and wouldn't answer politely enough. "We have a request to make. We do not intend Konohagakure no Sato or its people any harm."

The guard looked startled. Zabuza was one of the legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and an S-ranked nuke nin from Konoha's current enemy. A squad of ANBU surrounded the two travelers in a matter of seconds.

"What do you wish to ask of Hokage-sama," the captain of the four man team stated. It was not a question. It was an order for information.

Zabuza simply appeared bored. Haku knew him though, and knew what the slight shifting of his eyes, feet, and hands meant. He was irritated and likely about to tell the ANBU to fuck off. Not a very good thing to say.

"Zabuza-sama and I have been traveling for a while, and we are tired of being missing ninja. We would like to join Konohagakure no Sato and assist in the fight against Kirigakure no Sato," Haku replied to the ANBU's request.

He looked at her. "Exactly how old are you, little girl?" he asked, his tone icy. It was to be expected. Haku looked far younger than he was, having been malnourished almost all of his life. Rather than the thirteen he was he looked more like nine. He also knew he looked like a girl, and many mistook him for such when he wasn't wearing his ninja garb.

"I am thirteen years of age." Haku did not deem it necessary to tell the captain of his true gender. It was irrelevant, and the man would probably take it as an insult to his intelligence.

Speaking of intelligence… one of the ANBU seemed to be barely holding in a laugh. None of her teammates appeared to have noticed, since they were focused on the two newcomers and not their teammate. She was looking straight at Haku, occasionally glancing at her captain. Haku correctly guessed that she'd realized the boy's true gender, and found her squad leader's blunder hilarious. Judging by the way he acted, chances were he was stuck up and overconfident of himself. Not too unusual for those possessing extremely high natural skill and luck as far as what family they'd been born into.

He nodded almost imperceptibly. "Neko, go tell Hokage-sama of our two guests. Also tell him that I think the two are worth his time."

"Hai, Inu-sama!" one of them said, just before poofing away.

The ANBU returned after only a minute, with instructions for where to take Zabuza and Haku. The Hokage would indeed meet with them.

The two nuke nins needed no prodding to go where the ANBU instructed them to, although Zabuza clearly didn't like being ordered around. He was adverse enough to this whole join Konoha thing as it was, but with the war it was getting too dangerous for Zabuza and Haku to be without allegiance. Kiri was going to extra pains to hunt down the remaining Seven Swordsmen to prevent this exact thing from happening.

"Momochi Zabuza-san and Haku-san, I presume?" the Hokage called out. The two visitors had arrived in the meeting room. Both Zabuza and Haku were immediately able to pick out the ANBU hiding around the room.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Haku replied.

The old man, leader of the great village for far longer than he should've or, if he'd had a choice in the matter, would've been, motioned for his two guests to sit down. This was not a business meeting, after all. They were simply discussing the terms of Zabuza and Haku's acceptance into the ninja ranks of Konoha. For, in times like these, accepted they would be.

Both sat, Haku sitting with perfect posture, hands folding in his lap and head bowed meekly, while Zabuza sprawled and stretched out his legs, resting his elbows on the table.

"You said earlier you wished to be accepted into Konohagakure. Mind telling me why?" His tone was friendly, intended to put the listeners at ease. Neither Haku nor Zabuza showed any signs of a change in demeanor.

"Kirigakure no Sato has been hunting Zabuza-sama and the other remaining Seven Swordsmen more vigorously than before, ever since the start of this war. They are doing so to prevent any of us from sharing information," Haku replied. The Hokage didn't fail to note how the child answered everything, while Zabuza simply looked annoyed.

"And so you wish to seek refuge with their enemy?"

Haku nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama, if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Before either of you are to be allowed any sort of freedom, you will have to prove you are loyal. Momochi-san will be required to give as much information as he can, and to stay on probation for at the least two years. You will be joining him, Haku-san. After that Momochi-san will be entered as a jounin, and Haku-san as a genin," the Hokage explained. He had no doubt that this boy's skills were greater than that of a genin, but since he had clearly never taken the chunin exams before and he was not originally of Konoha he could not be entered as anything higher than a genin. "After the two year probation is up Haku-san will perform D-ranked missions for up to half a year and Momochi-san will serve as Haku-san and his team's jounin instructor."

Zabuza grunted, and Haku said "Hai." Both meant the same thing. They understood. The amount of probation was very low, and probably only because of the Hokage's faith in their hatred for Kiri and the state of emergency Konoha was currently in. D missions for Haku for only six months and being a jounin instructor was also light.

"In return, both of you are expected to help us as much as possible, both through fighting and through giving us as much information as you can," the Hokage finished. His audience nodded. "You will be staying in special guest rooms for the duration of your probation. After that you will both be moved to an apartment. Please note that good behavior will prevent the length of your probation from rising past two years and will reduce the amount of time Haku-san has to spend on D-ranked missions."

Zabuza and Haku nodded again, standing when four ANBU came to escort them to their rooms. They were a different squad than before, the one that had found the two having returned to border patrol.

The room they were to be staying in wasn't much, just two twin beds, a closet, a small table, and an overhead light. There was a small window, although the glass was designed to be almost unbreakable, and there were seals on the room to prevent chakra from being used within unless one was carrying a counter. There also were cameras and bugs in the room, to eliminate the necessity of around the clock supervision from ANBU. There would still be guards outside the door and window, but it didn't need to be as severe as it would otherwise. The bathroom was a communal one shared by all the rooms on that hall.

Neither had brought anything with them, so they didn't need to unpack, only bothering to change into more comfortable clothing before collapsing into their beds.

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Hinata stared at the door to the clan meeting room, her stomach twisting into knots. With the war, the Hyuuga clan couldn't have a weak heir or heiress, and Hinata still was below her prodigy of a sister in skill level. It was likely that she'd be removed from the position of heir and sentenced to the Branch House.

Her heart pounding against the inside of her chest, Hinata didn't dare to even so much as breath as the door slid open and she was called within. Her feet felt like lead as she walked into the meeting room, the place where her fate would be forever sealed. If she failed, and was moved to the Branch House, that was it. Branch family members could never lead the clan, and could never change things or succeed all that much like she wished to, for the sake of the boy she swore to find one day and to protect, for he was her first and only friend.

The faces of the elders and of her father were cold and distant, boring holes into Hinata, straight into her very soul. She felt exposed in front of their hawk like eyes. In her mind the Hyuuga clan was certainly just as demonic as, if not more than, the Uchiha clan was now thought of as being.

"You called me, otousama," she said, her voice clear and confident. She'd learned how to speak without stuttering ever since the Uchiha Massacre occurred and her only friend went missing.

"Hyuuga Hinata, we have come to a decision about your future position in the clan hierarchy," Hiashi, her father and the head of the clan, said. No matter how much she wished otherwise, though, he was merely her father by birth, not by spirit. He was more Hanabi's father than he was hers.

Hinata dared not look up from her position on the floor, kneeling in front of these people she'd come to resent. If only she could become clan leader, stuck up people like these who thought they could walk all over everyone else would be a thing of the past, along with the extreme division between the Hyuuga and the rest of Konoha and the divide between then Main and Branch House families.

"Tomorrow you will be removed from your position as heiress to the Hyuuga clan, and will be moved into the Branch House. Your younger sister, Hyuuga Hanabi, will take your place as heiress," Hiashi said. He hadn't supported this. He really hadn't. He didn't think his daughters should be subjected to this. He'd even almost begged that Hanabi not be branded with the Caged Bird Seal and doomed to a life of servitude. His wish had been granted, but at a high price.

"Hai, Hiashi-sama," Hinata said, her voice monotonous. She dared not show emotion. She'd either start screaming at the unfairness of it, or break down crying from relief that this burden was lifted from her shoulders, or sorrow that she had failed to uphold her promise. So she drew a curtain around her emotions, hiding them away until it was safe to relax. Which might be never.

She was dismissed shortly, the elders wishing to not have to spend more time on her than absolutely necessary. She understood. They still needed to brief Hanabi on her new position. That spoiled, stuck-up brat had always been their favorite. Now she was getting everything that she'd ever wanted.

Hinata walked calmly, head held high, until she was out of sight of the compound that held the Main House. Then she broke into a run.

Hinata ran blindly, not seeing or sensing where she was going. By instinct, or by some memory imbedded in her brain, she avoided any and all people, arriving at _the place_ within minutes.

This was where she came to escape her family and the pressure that went with being heiress to such a prestigious clan. Here was also where she came to practice her own style of fighting, rather than the traditional Hyuuga style of fighting that the elders, her father, and everyone else in the Hyuuga clan, along with most outside of the clan, thought she should be mastering. Not that she listened to them.

When she'd trained with Naruto, at this very spot two years prior, he'd noticed her trouble with the Gentle Fist style of fighting. She simply wasn't designed for it. He'd suggested she make up her own style, like Itachi had told him to. She'd taken his words to heart. He was the first that had ever offered actual advice, rather than telling her what should be happening, not how she should do something.

Slipping into a basic taijutsu stance, one that would allow for agility and fluidity of motion rather than stability and force, (Really, what was the use of those unless you were like Lee? They were ninja. They could use chakra in place of muscle.) Hinata focused on her training. All she needed to do was refine the taijutsu, learn how to adapt it to real life situations, and learn how to incorporate jutsus into it. She'd also been trying to teach herself some techniques, and so far had only discovered that teaching herself was harder than it sounded and that she was a water type.

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Sasuke stared at the picture of Itachi he held clutched in his hands. Why? Why_ him_ of all people? Why not someone else?

He was so mad! No, not mad. He was _furious_. He wanted to rip those stupid, mean villagers to shreds! Sasuke couldn't, though. He'd end up dead or worse if he tried that. The villagers mistrusted him enough as it was.

How the hell could they be so damned _stupid_, anyways? If Sasuke _could_ actually call upon a hoard of demons, or one super powerful demon, he already _would_ have! It wasn't like he was 'biding his time' or anything, or hiding his true nature! (Well, he was, but that's beside the point.)

Those idiots who told him to go die, or to disappear, or better yet to go join the rest of the Uchihas in hell were the absolute worst! Of course he wasn't going to go die just to protect Konoha from a bunch of pissed off demons. The way they'd treated him in face of the Uchiha clan's connection with at the least one demon, probably more than one, insured that he'd be sitting there laughing his ass of when the demons did decide to finish off the last Uchiha, taking out the rest of Konoha along with him. And he couldn't just disappear, because that would require him to either go into the ANBU (which he was forbidden from ever doing because the idiot council people were too scared of him) or leaving, which he couldn't do because then he'd be a missing nin! And the last part would require the first one to be fulfilled, and the same point could be raised against it. And, also, why in all the hells would Sasuke _want_ to go and burn in hell?

Well, ignoring the morons, the non idiotic people of Konoha weren't that bad. Old man Ichiraku and his daughter were nice, since they knew the loss of Itachi must be hard on the boy and had never been liable to judge based on common opinion. Iruka-sensei wasn't exactly nice, but he wasn't mean either, so he counted as 'not that bad'. The Hokage was also on his list of 'not stupid' because he'd kept the council from driving Sasuke out after some ANBU had had a minor skirmish with some low level demon or another. If there hadn't been a lot of hype over the two consecutive high level demon attacks, the whole thing would've been ignored and chalked up to random bad luck. Which it was.

That annoying bitch Hinata was the least stupid of them all, but Sasuke liked her the least. If she wasn't necessary to his quest to track down Itachi, he wouldn't've gone within five miles of her outside of the classroom. Still, she wanted to find Naruto, whom they both agreed was traveling with Itachi, so the two clan heirs (although the way things were going Hinata would soon be an ex clan heiress and the clan Sasuke was heir to ever since his brother disappeared didn't exist anymore) worked together to search the Uchiha compound and the surrounding area for clues, and to gather information from the villagers.

She actually was a great help with searching, since she could scan the entire compound in a matter of seconds, and see through any boxes. The only problem was the underground passageways, where she couldn't see through the doors or walls, only being able to see through scrolls, boxes, other containers of ways of hiding things, and to detect where something was being hidden by chakra. Also most of the scrolls dealing with clan history had vanished, although Sasuke knew the ANBU hadn't been able to find any.

Between the two of them, Sasuke and Hinata had already discovered that Itachi and Naruto and escaped via the tunnels, because they'd found one of Naruto's things down there (how had the ANBU missed that, anyways?) and they'd found out that Naruto had been there the night of the massacre, and most likely so had Itachi. The strange thing was no trace could be found of Itachi's chakra signature after about an hour before the attack.

They'd also eliminated several corridors as possible escape routes, and had found several clues indicating which direction they might have gone. The two Academy students couldn't do all that much, though, because they didn't want to risk getting caught. They'd get into a world of trouble for sure.

Sasuke clenched his fists. Why couldn't Itachi just return already? Finding the raven, as much as Sasuke hated to acknowledge the fact, was going to be like finding a piece of hay in a needle stack. Almost impossible and extremely dangerous.

Even if he could find Itachi, or if Itachi returned to him on his own, Naruto was still a huge obstacle. Sasuke hated the blonde so, so much. The stupid little fox boy had snuck into his life and stolen away Itachi from right under his nose. Sasuke had felt a deep mistrust of Naruto when he first saw him, but he'd been stupid and ignored it.

If only Itachi had never found Naruto, five years ago! If only the Hokage had assigned someone else to guard the stupid blonde! But no, worse had come to worse, and Itachi had started paying more attention to Naruto than he did to Sasuke, and maybe even _caring_ more for the idiot than he did for Sasuke! It was enraging!

Sasuke took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Naruto wasn't here, so Sasuke very well couldn't exact his revenge for stealing away _his_ Itachi. What was here was the trashed apartment, and the reality that winter was here, it was freezing outside, and the curtains that Sasuke had been using ever since the window was broken had been torn down and ripped to shreds. The only things that weren't drawn on or destroyed were Sasuke's picture of Itachi, Sasuke's picture of his family, a blanket Mikoto had given Sasuke, and some of Sasuke's clothes. All of which were only okay because the raven had had the foresight to hide them away from the eyes of the world, making sure that only he could find them.

The wheels and cogs within Sasuke's brain turned as he plotted his revenge against the perpetrators. When he'd discovered the trashed apartment he'd called in Hinata, who had been about to head over to the Main House of the Hyuuga clan compound. She'd quickly scanned the room and provided the identities of the villagers that had destroyed Sasuke's apartment.

Of course, pranks weren't exactly the best way to get revenge (torturing and killing were oh so much better) but they would have to do for now. And nobody had yet to be able to actually trace the pranks back to him, and Sasuke could get quite sadistic with his pranks.

The raven hummed as he thought of ways to forever ruin his tormentors. It wasn't ideal, but it would work. Sasuke giggled as he thought of how Iruka-sensei would be _so_ disapproving when those three were struck by the Shadow Cat, as the mysterious, sadistic prankster had come to be known, because of the cat's paw he always drew in charcoal and how he'd never been caught. The brunet suspected Sasuke, but he couldn't prove anything and he was far to kind hearted to knowingly bring down more misfortune on Sasuke.

**

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**

Iruka stared at his class and sighed. Ever since Naruto had mysteriously vanished, things had gone downhill. Kiba had gotten even harder to control, if that was even possible, and Shikamaru was sleeping more than ever. That was just the tip of the iceberg, though. Sasuke's popularity had dropped even lower than Naruto's had been, and he'd started switching randomly from loud and brash to a quiet sort of angry to a brick wall to an eerie sort of happiness that normally involved the discomfort or pain of someone who had wronged him. He would even pull pranks every now and then, although they were nothing like Naruto's. Naruto was after a good laugh, and would at the most embarrass the target of his pranks. Sasuke actually had hurt people on several occasions. Not that any of it could be traced back to him, of course, but Iruka knew who the culprit was.

Hinata had also changed, ceasing to be so unconfident. Iruka personally preferred the stuttering Hinata, though. This Hinata still was quiet, but rather than radiating extreme shyness, or brooding, or being a wise and thoughtful person, she gave off the overpowering aura of a deadly assassin. Iruka didn't doubt that her previous tenderness was still there, but it was hidden beneath a venomous exterior.

He wasn't able to see into her mind, though, and couldn't see that the deadly act was just that, an act. She still had low confidence, and hated hurting others or causing them discomfort. If she didn't have some kind of fall back, though, she'd snap under the pressure. So she created Poison, her alter ego. **(AN: basically like Inner Sakura or Naruto's legendary mask, she's just named it is all)** Poison was everything she wasn't. Poison was powerful, confident, and didn't give a damn about what everyone else thought or felt. Poison was a winner and a success, while Hinata saw herself as a loser and a failure.

What was even more unsettling, in Iruka's eyes, was the fact that the last Uchiha, outcast of the village, and the Hyuuga heiress (_'ex-Hyuuga heiress'_ he reminded himself) seemed to be, if not on good terms, on better terms with each other than with anyone else. The only problem was that before the Uchiha Massacre the two hadn't even known each other, and they seemed to dislike each other more than they did anyone else even now, but it was like they simply _tolerated_ each other. Why was the troubling part.

The worst it could be was the two were both trying to find Itachi and Naruto. Iruka cared for Naruto, and he respected Itachi for taking care of the blonde, but only trouble could come of seeking them out and, worse yet, asking them to _return_.

In the best case scenario the villagers and shinobi would be unhappy with Naruto and Itachi's return, and that the two would be able to contribute enough to ward off that unhappiness. The worst case scenario was that the two would bring a hoard of demons along with them, demolishing Konoha, even if they didn't intend to.

Yes. It definitely wasn't a good idea to go around seeking out Itachi and Naruto. Those two, as much as Iruka hated to admit it, were better off missing.

**

* * *

**

Naruto stared at the falling snow. The weather outside was quickly turning into a blizzard. Not that he minded, though.

He liked the inn they were staying at. Their room had two beds, one for Kuromidori and one for Itachi and Naruto. Both in their room and in the common room was a fireplace, although the one in the main room was huge. A colorful rug was spread out in front of both fireplaces, and such things as hot cocoa and marshmallows and chocolate were close at hand.

Yes, Naruto didn't mind being snowed in at all. Even if the temperature in the inn dropped, Itachi radiated warmth and was good for snuggling against. The cats were a good source of heat too, along with the roaring fire.

Naruto quite liked the fire, even more than he liked the snow. It was so powerful, and contained so much destructive potential, and yet it did something so necessary for human life such as providing warmth and light, and also cooking food. The biggest fire Naruto had ever seen, the sun, also provided a lot of light, warmth, and made plants grow. Fire was amazing.

Naruto yanked his eyes away from the blizzard outside, focusing on the book he held open in his lap. It was boring, but he needed to study. He only needed to read the extremely boring textbook until Itachi and Kuromidori finished talking with the people at the inn, anyways.

They'd been tracking down the Kyuubi no Kitsune's two younger siblings, one a boy the other a girl, for the past two years. They'd managed to find a lead, but they weren't anywhere near finding the two. And if they didn't soon, Naruto would surely die. The seal would give out in two years time, instead of starting to weaken then like it should have. If they couldn't repair it in time, Naruto would only live up until his twelfth birthday. Then, the midnight of October tenth, in the sixtieth year since the shinobi calendar started (the merchants, royalty, shinobi, and regular people all followed different calendars, not to mention the non human calendars) the seal would completely collapse, and Naruto would be ripped apart from the inside by a blast of yoki which his body would be just adapted enough to prevent him from dying right away.

The door to the room where Itachi and Kuromidori had been meeting with their informant cracked open, and Naruto's two friends slipped out. The blonde closed his book, beaming at Itachi. Finally! He'd been so _bored_ just sitting here!

Itachi started walking back to the room, motioning for Naruto to follow. The blonde got up without saying a word, bounding after the raven. Kuromidori decided to stay in the inn to see if he could glean any more information.

Naruto immediately noticed that Itachi looked almost depressed, and knew that they hadn't been able to find anything more. They were at a dead end.

Naruto sat down on the carpet in front of their fire. It had been going since they got there, and didn't need fuel to run. It had been created by some visiting elf mage or another a while back, who had put everlasting fires in all the fire places of the inn rather than pay for himself and his group.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, breaking the oppressive silence.

Itachi sighed, sitting down on the bed nearest the window. His bed. "We weren't able to find anything. The guy had some suspicions, but they were mostly things we've heard before. All we know is that here was the last place the two were seen," Itachi said, petting Raven mechanically, not even aware he was doing such.

"Well, there's bound to be someone here who's seen them!" Naruto declared, smiling widely. Itachi smiled back, if only slightly. The blonde was really good at cheering people up. "We'll keep searching until they're found!"

Itachi voiced his agreement quietly, joining Naruto on the floor in front of the fire, playfully ruffling the blonde's hair. He didn't dare voice his concern, though. He didn't dare say out loud that there might be nothing to be found. That there quarry might not even be alive. Because to say it out loud would be to make it real, would be to make it a concrete possibility rather than a horrid nightmare that was almost certain to never come true.

And so he kept quiet about the doubt nagging at his mind, about the fear that gripped his heart in its cold, icy claws. Instead of darkening the mood, instead of dragging them both back to that hell of depression and wondering what if the worst happened, Itachi talked about happy things with Naruto and with the four cats that had come along with them. (Crimson Mare had been with kittens again, so couldn't join them on the dangerous mission.) They avoided the subject of death, of little or no hope of ever seeing tomorrow, focusing on things such as Naruto's training and education, and on things such as their views of the world.

The room had brightened considerably, all their troubles put behind them for the moment. Itachi and Naruto both held mugs of thick, hot cocoa, and they were toasting marshmallows on the fire, eating them all gooey and hot with squares of both dark and milk chocolate. Nothing lasts forever though, and the moment was shattered when the door slammed open.

Kuromidori stood there, a wild light in his eyes. He looked excited.

"You'd never guess what happened!" he announced, his usual cold exterior forgotten. "I found someone who knows where they are!"

**

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**

**Hope none of this was too out there or plot-no-jutsu-y. And that I didn't have any characters OOC beyond what the circumstances demanded.**

**Oh, another thing: Kisame's not in the Akatsuki in this, because (spoiler) the AL is the leader of Ame, so the Akatsuki is allied with Kiri, too. So Kisame's just wandering around. He will show up later in the story, though.**

**What do you guys think of having Haku and Zabuza join Konoha?**

**Wow, more or less a sixth of this actually focused on Itachi and Naruto! That's a small amount… but I did want to show what was happening with everyone else.**

**Translations:**

**Umi no Kuni- Japanese for Land of the Sea**

**Nami no Kuni- Japanese for Land of the Waves**

**Tsuki no Kuni- Japanese for Land of the Moon**

**Cha no Kuni- Japanese for Land of Tea**

**Hi no Kuni- Japanese for Land of Fire**

**Kaminari no Kuni- Japanese for Land of Lightning**

**Kaito (****Kah-ee-toh****) - Japanese name. ****Written **海翔** Kai**** means sea/ocean and 'to' means**** soar/ fly**

**Mizukage- Japanese for Water Shadow.**** Leader of Kirigakure no Sato**

**Kirigakure no Sato- Japanese for Village Hidden in the Mist**

**D****aimyo****- Japanese lord**

**Mizu no Kuni- Japanese for the Land of Water**

**Ame no Kuni**- **Japanese for** **the Land of Rain**

**Ta no Kuni****-** **Japanese for ****the ****Land of the Rice Fields (aka Orochimaru's place)**

**Kemurigakure- Japanese for Village Hidden in the Smoke**

**Shitenshounin**- **Japanese for** **Four Heavenly Directions**

**Ki****ri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu- Japanese for Seven Swordsmen of the Mist**

**Please review! –Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu!-**


	8. Story Up for Adoption

**Story Up for Adoption**

Not an update... I really liked this particular plot bunny (sadly, it chewed a hole in its enclosure and escaped) so I'd like to see someone continue it (hopefully with more grace and writing ability than I was able to use; -looks back at the chapters- -winces-).

If anyone wants to adopt the story, send me an email or PM outlining how you'd continue it and what you'd change in the previous chapters (and don't say that you'd change nothing; they're in serious, serious need of a major overhaul). Sadly, I've managed to lose all original documents (my hard-drive hates me) and derail all trains of thought pertaining to this story, so you'll have to go by what's posted online.

A few requirements: firstly, regardless of my previous attitude and the fact that I've been guilty of it several times in the past, **no character bashing, please**. It's started to _really, really _annoy me. If you absolutely cannot _stand_ a canon character, there are still several options open to you: follow a different interpretation of their actions/ personality than what everyone assumes (technically, we don't have an actual Word of God on any character's inner motivations), just go ahead and write them OOC (as long as said character still manages to have a well-rounded and realistic personality), or just deal with it (or don't ever mention the character, except in passing, although that might be hard). Second: don't be a slave to canon (especially since I don't particularly like Kishimoto, his writing style, and what he's done with the story). If something in canon doesn't work with the story, throw it out. Thirdly (and most importantly): get a good beta reader. Seriously. Also, just... write it better than I did. Please.

Other than that, feel free to take it in pretty much any direction you want; you can even change the main pairing(s) (or even make it gen) or the characterization of Naruto, Kyuubi, and (especially) Sasuke and Itachi in particular and others to a lesser extent if you want to, or the plot/ occurences/ backstory itself. Just try to make a point of mentioning any changes to me, first; I probably won't bother arguing with you, but I might have some feedback to give.

I can probably help with the last, if you don't mind the occasional delay attributable to ditziness, to teachers attempting to bury me under piles of homework, projects, study guides, and the like, and to my not having access to the internet/ simply being busy.

Good luck to anyone who decides to try! (And sorry to anyone who thought that this was a real update!)

Final note: even if you _don't_ adopt the story, feel free to use any and all ideas or characters I introduced/ used in this. Consider it public domain or something.

(On a related note, if anyone's just looking for inspiration, I've got a list of plot bunnies/ challenges in my profile)


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